The Effort for Peace

Mother Teresa was a great admirer of St. Francis. She also lived her faith and dedicated her life to peace for the poor and suffering in India. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work. When she received her financial award from Nobel, she gave the entire amount to the poor. Mother Teresa was once asked how everyone could bring peace into the world. She simply replied, "just love your family".

I think people today can identify with the spiritual struggles of Mother Teresa. Although she dedicated her life towards her mission to help the poor and needy, she had severe doubts about the existence of God and Christ. She confessed that deep in her soul, she did not feel the presence of God. She felt nothing but darkness and emptyness and yet she labored on. Many people in today's troubled world, question their faith and the existence of God. Like the hero, Sisyphus in the Myth of Sisyphus, we toil everyday in our work, our jobs trying to make ends meet, rolling that stone up the hill. And when we get that stone to the top of the hill, it rolls back down. It's like, "What's the use!" Everything is just a struggle. Why am I bothering?

Well the answer is right in front of our face. It is the struggle that makes it all worthwhile. Sisyphus smiled when he got the stone up the hill and let it roll down again. I once wanted to learn how to juggle. So I purchased a juggling book and began to try to juggle. It was very difficult for me. I tried and tried and tried. I would always drop the balls down in frustration. I thought to myself, God can I ever do this? But I persevered and continued to practice. One day I got it! I was able to get all the balls flying through the air in uniform grace. I was simply amazed! It was so beautiful. And I smiled!

It was the work and struggle that made it so worthwhile. If someone had given me three balls and I would have instantly juggled them, I would not have valued it. It was the effort and the struggle that made it so valuable for me.