Today, I want to share one of the most precious lessons I have learned from Mother Teresa. The excerpts below are from my book Inner Mastery, Outer Impact, where I share more stories about how she led with love:

As the AIDS epidemic was growing around the world, Missionaries of Charity opened hospices where nuns could care for AIDS patients who were in the last stages of the disease. When asked, “Mother Teresa, is the AIDS epidemic the result of sin?” she replied, “I, Mother Teresa, am a sinner. We are all sinners. And we all need God’s mercy.”

Notice what she did here. She evidently must have wanted to tell the questioner, “Do not believe you are morally superior to other human beings.” But instead of saying it in this direct manner, she humbly affiliated with all “sinners.” In doing so, she earned the right to tell the questioner that he/she, too, was a sinner, and indeed so was everyone else in the world. In other words, we are all human.

And here’s how she answered a very different question.

On another occasion, she was asked, “Some people feel that you’re almost like a living saint. How do you feel about that?” She replied, “You have to be holy in your position, as you are, and I have to be holy in the position that God has put me. So it is nothing extraordinary to be holy. Holiness is not the luxury of the few. Holiness is a simple duty for you and for me. We have been created for that.”

This questioner had placed her in a very exalted position. She could have humbled herself by again saying, “No, in fact I am a sinner, and so are you, and we all need God’s mercy.”

But the great ones, they are always seeking to lift people’s gaze, not lower it. When someone was judgmental, Mother Teresa found a respectful way to make them humble. And when they were humble, she found a way to make them discover their highest potential.

You and I have both a human side and a divine side to us. When we find ourselves judging someone else for their perceived flaws, we can activate humility by acknowledging our own flaws. And when we find ourselves admiring someone’s virtues, we can remind ourselves of our own divine nature, lying in wait within us.

How does the awareness of your human side help you stay humble? And how does the awareness of your fuller divine potential propel you forward?

Warmly,
Hitendra

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