173. Mother Teresa: In My Own Words
Mother Teresa: In My Own Words by Mother Teresa. Compiled by Jose Luis Gonzalez-Balado. (Canada) - (US)Pages: 109
Ages: All Ages
Finished: Aug. 1, 2011
First Published: 1997
Publisher: Gramercy Books
Genre: Catholic, inspirational, quotes, Christian, nuns, missions
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:
Holiness does not consist in doing extraordinary things.
Acquired: A wonderful lady at church, who admires Mother Teresa greatly, passed the book on to me. Thank you, Frances!
Reason for Reading: for inspiration.
A collection of mostly quotes, with some short stories, anecdotes and prayers that Mother Teresa has been recorded saying throughout her life either to the poor themselves, or the media. These are awesomely uplifting, wise and true words of wisdom. If everyone could only take Mother's words to heart and live them spiritually, world poverty would simply cease to exist. The book begins with a short biography and introduction to this selfless woman who won the Nobel Peace Price in 1979 (back when it meant something). This intro. can be presumed to be written by the compiler Balado, as no credit is otherwise given anywhere. The book then is divided into chapters based on theme such as: Holiness, Prayer, Christ in the Poor, Mary, Virtues, Suffering, Smiles, Loneliness and Her Mission among many others.
One could quickly gobble up the book in an afternoon but I choose to make it a slow read and ponder Mother Teresa's words. Every evening I would read a two page spread from the book and have the rest of the day to think about any of the thoughts, or ideas that inspired me, and believe me there were many. I often found myself leaving a particularly hard hitting or soul grabbing quote (to me) as my Facebook status and I've dog-eared all the pages with those special words so that in the future I can go back to the book and go straight to those pages. This is a book that will be picked up and laid down many times. A good book to put somewhere accessible to guests in your home.
I think that's a good way to read this particular book. Although short you wouldn't want to rush through it. I've never read any book about Mother Teresa. Thanks for the interesting review.
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