My Calcutta

Man, I'm just a bloggin' fool here lately! Well I MUST share something that has profoundly impacted my life, and I just read it this morning. In this book, The Irresistible Revolution, Shane (author) writes about his search for a real Christian. He finally narrowed it down to Mother Teresa, who was still alive at the time. Shane journeyed to Calcutta, India, to observe her work and perhaps for the first time encounter the reality of the gospel.

The story is inspiring, and makes me heart ache for all those whom I was blessed to meet in India, but that's not what profoundly spoke to me. Mother Teresa made the statement, "Calcutta's are everywhere, if only we have eyes to see. Find your Calcutta."

BAM!

It's like fireworks went off in my spirit! There is destitution and poverty and desperation even amidst the wealthy and materially rich people of this nation, and of my community. Wow. How eye-opening is that?! Maybe I'm just super excited because after reading all these books about selling all your posessions, and living with the homeless, and pioneering ministries overseas, it was a blow to me that this is my Calcutta. Here. Here in this free nation where we can get pretty much anything we want.... this is my Calcutta. He and I can bring freedom to the captives here. Peace to the lost and hopeless and those who cannot afford their next house payment. These are my lepers. These are my wandering sheep.

These children who have no sense of thankfulness or gratitude for the many things they have- they are my orphans. Girls that keep moving from boy to boy, relationship to relationship, all the while staying ignorant to the heart and passion of their Lord- these are my widows.

There is so much here to see and to change. Why only think that it's in India or in Uganda? It's HERE.

I knew I was getting into something deep when the description of the book read, "this brings comfort to the disturbed, and disturbs the comfortable."

Now that's the kind of Gospel I want to live by.