A SIMPLE PATH by Mother Teresa
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My Experience with the Book
I read this book in college on a plane flight home from Seattle, and it had a profound impact on me. The lady sitting next to me struck up a conversation about the book, and even though she was not Catholic, her positive impressions about Mother Teresa opened up a wonderful conversation that lasted the whole flight home to D.C.. She was a movie producer with a sense of the spiritual, and just seeing me reading a book by Mother Teresa triggered a deep conversation that probably never would have happened otherwise.
Books like this beg to be contemplated and talked about and can generate incredible insights into ourselves and our relationship with God. Mother Teresa, now a canonized saint, had a true knack for putting deep theological truths in very simple and down to earth words and concepts. It is an easy read filled with penetrating wisdom and moving stories. It is deeply challenging book, but never preachy or negative.
Purchase the book here
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What to Expect
The Simple Path outlines basic steps along a spiritual path leading to the peace of God. The steps along “the path” run thus: the fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; and the fruit of service is peace.
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Having laid out the steps, Mother Teresa walks us through each. She tells stories and gives insights from her life and missionary activities, and shares stories from some of her sisters and co-workers as well from people all over the world. Some stories or insights are a paragraph long; others are several pages. I have read it many times since college and when I do, I frequently have to put it down to contemplate her insights. It is rich fare.
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For Further Study:
Mother Teresa’s book, No Greater Love. The movie, “Mother Teresa”, starring Olivia Hussey can be found on FORMED for free through our parish subscription at formed.org/signup (choose our parish).
Bonus thought: One of my professors in graduate studies who knew Mother Teresa told the story about how he watched her off-camera when an America reporter came to India to interview her. This tall young blond American beauty stood next to the diminutive old wrinkled nun in the midst of an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity during the interview. Small kids, some barely able to walk, ran, screamed and played all around them as the interview went on. At one point the reporter asked Mother Teresa, “Many American Catholics are not happy with your stance against abortion and will not give money to support your efforts because of it. How do you feel about this?” Without missing a beat Mother Teresa told her, “I do not want their money.” She then bent down and picked up one of the small children running around them and held the child up in front of her face, looked deeply into the tiny girl’s eyes and said, “Why are they so afraid of you?”
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