Diana and Mother Theresa - The ultimate lesson
to be drawn
Rev. Andrew Abraham
A most unusual time lies
behind us. Diana, the Queen of hearts, died on
In the special tribute
edition of the Mirror newspaper reporter Mary Riddell described in moving words
what Diana's son William, the future King, must have felt during the procession
behind his mother's coffin at the funeral:
'As he walked out, on the
longest journey of his life, his sorrow seemed almost more terrible than death
itself. The streets were the
Everywhere special church
services were attended by thousands of mourners. They were seeking comfort by
him about whom it is written in the Gospel of Matthew:
'When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were
harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.' (
If only his wishes came
true! If only we became a people who truly identify with the suffering of
others and as a result of that would be prompted to give help! On that same day
news reached the world that Mother Theresa, the mother of
'Two women of vastly
different backgrounds and worlds are gone. But each in her
own way has shown us what it is to live a life of meaning through
concern for others. This is their great legacy. Let us honour it.' (Ibid. page
32, Monday, 8th September 1997)
Many profound lessons have
been drawn, and will be drawn; rightly so. But what is the ultimate lesson the
nation and the world must draw from the lives of these two remarkable women? What
is there really to be learned from the countless tears and the immense pain
experienced? What made Mother Theresa and Diana so special is the fact that
they were prepared to leave their lives of comfort in order to help the dying
and the destitute. They were ready to enter the miserable lives of Leprosy and
AIDS sufferers to such an extent that they dared to touch them with their
actions emotionally and even physically. The nations loved them for this. People
want a monarchy that is in touch with its subjects. They yearn for those of
great power and influence to compassionately reach down to them and so to
become one of them. Revealed here is the climax of the ultimate lesson
for all of us to learn: God did exactly that in a perfect way! In the
Gospel of John we read:
'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He
was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him,
and without him not one thing came into being. In him was life, and the life
was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name
was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all
might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to
testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was
coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into
being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what
was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all
who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of
God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of
the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived
among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only
son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out,
'This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because
he was before me.') From his fullness we have all received, grace upon
grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son,
who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.' (1:1-18)
The Almighty God, the
King of kings, came among us in Jesus for two reasons: Firstly, to show us who
God is: Absolutely Holy; unable to accept any kind of evil. It has become evident in the lives
of Diana and Mother Theresa that even the good people have great weaknesses. Earl
Spencer, Diana's brother, said in his tribute to her at the funeral, 'Diana
explained to me once that it was her innermost feelings of suffering that made
it possible for her to connect with her constituency of the rejected and here
we come to another truth about her. For all the status, the glamour, the
applause, Diana remained throughout a very insecure person at heart, almost
childlike in her desire to do good for others so she could release herself from
deep feelings of unworthiness of which her eating disorders were merely a
symptom.' (Ibid.p.11)
Diana's suffering was
partly caused by her not being able to reach the expected school results and by
her parent's and her own break up of marriage. She looked for guidance by
consulting her personal astrologer rather than God in prayer, as it seems. Mother
Theresa's work never tried to break the barrier between rich and poor...' She
was accepting 'cash from dubious sources: Papa Doc, Charles Keating Jr., Robert Maxwell.' (The Times, Monday 8th September 1997, page
19)
Elton John sang at Diana's
funeral the beautiful song 'Candle in the wind.' However, the line, 'Now you
belong to heaven' can be misleading. Not our good works enable us to go to
heaven but faith in the good work Jesus did on our behalf! That brings us to
the second reason why God, the King came among us: To reveal the wonderful
good news that God, the creator of the whole universe loves us! His
Holiness and his Justice demand the punishment and consequently the horrendous
eternal separation of the sinner from him. But his unspeakable Love demands the
forgiveness of those who have in rebellion gone their own ways. In Jesus he
met the demands of his holiness, his justice, and of his love at the cross! There
he took the punishment for our sins upon himself and died on our behalf so that
we might have life everlasting! Jesus rose on the third day from the dead
and now calls upon all mankind:
'Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' (Matthew 11:28-30)
P.T. Forsyth wrote in his
book 'The Justification of God' (Duckworth, 1916) on page 32: 'I could never
myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in
is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as 'God on the cross.' In the real world of
pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many
Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the
statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of
a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the
agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had
to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely,
twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back
lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and
intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me!
He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood,
tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in
the light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but
over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross which symbolises divine
suffering. The cross of Christ... is God's only self-justification in such a
world as ours.'
What is here said about
Buddha can be said about Allah and all other concepts of God, which have been
presented to the people throughout human history.
The playlet entitled 'The
Long Silence' sums up well the ultimate lesson to be learned from Diana and
Mother Theresa:
'At the end of time,
billions of people were scattered on a great plain before God's throne. Most
shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But some groups near the
front talked heatedly - not with cringing shame, but with belligerence. 'Can
God judge us? How can he know about suffering?' snapped a pert young
brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi
concentration camp. 'We endured terror...beatings... torture... death!' In
another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. 'What about this?' he demanded,
showing an ugly rope burn. 'Lynched... for no crime but being black!' In another crowd, a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes. 'Why
should I suffer' she murmured, 'It wasn't my fault.' Far out across the
plain there were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for
the evil and suffering he permitted in his world. How lucky God was to live in
heaven where all was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping of fear,
any hunger or hatred. What did God know of all that man had been forced to
endure in this world? For God leads a pretty sheltered life, they said.
So each
of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen because he had suffered the
most. A Jew, a Negro, a person from
'Let him be born a Jew. Let
the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult that even
his family will think him out of his mind when he tries to do it. Let him be
betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face false charges, be tried by a
prejudiced jury and convicted by a cowardly judge. Let him be tortured. At the
last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then let him die. Let him
die so that there can be no doubt that he died. Let there be a great host of
witnesses to verify it.' As each leader announced his portion of the sentence,
loud murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people assembled. And
when the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long silence. No
one uttered another word. No one moved. For suddenly all knew
that God had already served his sentence.'
Will you come to God who
suffered for you in Jesus in simple faith by prayer? Will you ask him for
forgiveness for going your own selfish ways? Will you ask him to come to live
in you through his Holy Spirit as he promised he would?
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Copyright © 1997, 2001,
2003, by Rev. Andrew Abraham. This publication may be reproduced in part or in
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