Saturday, March 04, 2006

Some Explaining to do....

I was flipping through a wonderful book of stories and verbal illustrations last night, reading again some of the ones I had flagged on my last trip through the book. The book is titled, "Let Me Tell You a Story" and is written by Tony Campolo, who happens to be one of my favorite communicators of all time. So much passion and energy, and never a moment when what he has to say doesn't completely and totally challenge your thoughts.

Anyway, I came across a story he had entitled simply, "Some Explaining To Do" and thought I'd share it with you, because it made me smile, and because Mother Teresa's reaction is similar to things I've thought recently.

When Mother Teresa visited Haiti, she was shown one of the most horrendous slums in the world. She was asked, "How do you explain all of this in light of our claims that our God is a loving God? Why does God let things like this happen?" Mother Teresa answered, "When I see Him, He's got a lot of explaining to do!"
I jokingly say that this is probably why she lived so long. Every time she approached death, I imagine God saying, "Hold up! Don't let her die yet! I don't think I can handle her right now."