"A word fitly spoken is like
apples of gold in pictures of silver"
Proverbs 16:24
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Wisdom With Words
Abandonment Is an Awful
Poverty
story by Mother
Teresa
One day I visited a
house where our sisters shelter the aged. This is one of the nicest houses in
England, filled with beautiful and precious things, yet there was not one smile
on the faces of these people. All of them were looking toward the door.
I asked the sister in charge,
"Why are they like that? Why can't you see a smile on their faces?" (I am
accustomed to seeing smiles on people's faces. I think a smile generates a
smile, just as love generates love.)
The sister answered, "The same
thing happens every day. They are always waiting for someone to come and visit
them. Loneliness eats them up, and day after day they do not stop looking.
Nobody comes."
Abandonment is an awful
poverty. There are poor people everywhere, but the deepest poverty is not being
loved.
The poor we seek may live near
us or far away. They can be materially or spiritually poor. They may be hungry
for bread or hungry for friendship. They may need clothing, or they may need
the sense of wealth that God's love for them represents. They may need the
shelter of a house made of bricks and cement or the shelter of having a place in
our hearts.
