Dr. Mary Poplin and Finding YOUR Calcutta (part 2)

As promised, here are other thoughts Mary shared that have stuck with me:

• We're all slaves to something. Paul often referred to himself as a bondservant of Christ - Christians are slaves to Jesus!  Mother Teresa lived this out.  Based upon Matthew 25:31-46, she cared for the poor, but her primary service was to Jesus.  So when she was looking into the face of an untouchable - feeding, bathing, or hugging - it was as if she were feeding, bathing, or hugging her Lord.

• Her advice to a young speaker and writer:
• study people who are doing what you'd ultimately like to do, for me Beth Moore and Joyce Meyer types.
• think about who you can help - this is likely "your" best target audience
• think about what grieves you most - that's likely your Calcutta

• On abortion:  In her book, Mary shares about her own abortion experience and the process of accepting God's forgiveness.  I mentioned how I really appreciated that she included that.  Then, she shared a story of a woman who came to her after a talk distraught because, while Mary was not a Christian when she aborted, this girl was and "should have known better."  Mary said the Lord immediately brought King David to mind - the man after God's own heart, God's anointed king of Isreal - who committed adultery and had the woman's husband murdered in battle.  He knew God; God forgave Him.  Profound.  Is our God not full of mercy?

I loved being with Mary.  Her heart is so warm, her mind so keen.  I most appreciate her understanding that all of us Christians need each other, the Presbyterian needs the Pentecostal, the Catholic needs the Baptist, the Eastern needs the Western, and vice-versa on all of those!  Her heart is open to learning more and God has used this to shape her life/ministry (I have to write it that way, for they are one, as per Ephesians 4.)  In her book, on a chapter about the Church she says, Isn't it a magnificent thing to be a molecule in the body of Christ.  No mater where we live in the world, we are instantly joined to a larger body. p. 138

I'll leave you with this final teaser if you want to get to know more about Mary and her experiences with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity, from her book Finding Calcutta: What Mother Teresa Taught Me About Meaningful Work and Service.

At night, [after her time in Calcutta] I would lie wake and reflect on the various stories of miracles among the Missionaries, the healing of Babloo, his love for the picture of Jesus, the bottle nipple that arrived just in time, the Indian money, the special help to the Delhi Plane, the entry into the cloistered monastery, the voice from the icon ... So many experiences rolled around in me with nowhere to put them.  I hardly had any categories that could accommodate my experiences.  My old categories of coincidence and serendipity crumbled under the weight of new experiences and understandings.The Lord was resurrecting something that had long laid dormant in me, and I was beginning to come more alive.  I felt like a child allowed into my Father's study for the first time to experience certain secrets.  I was seeing things t I had never noticed before.  Like a child, I was pointing to them and waiting for him to give me the word.  p. 146