To Find Hope: Mother Teresa, by Sam Wellman

Few Christians in the 20th century were as well-known and admired as Mother Teresa.  Though a devout Catholic, her humility in service to the poorest of the poor brought her fame and adulation from around the world, among Christians of all stripes, and among people of other faiths or no faith at all.  Sam Wellman, prolific author of Christian biographies for young readers, provides an easy-reading introduction to Mother Teresa in his novelized biography, To Find Hope.

Like most people, I have been vaguely aware of Mother Teresa's work and legacy for some time.  I remember when she died, on the same day as Princess Diana, regretting that Mother Teresa's death was overshadowed by the publicity-loving celebrity princess.  But that is probably what Mother Teresa would have wanted.  Never comfortable with the media attention and honors she received, including a Nobel Peace Prize, she suffered through the praise with humility in order to bring more attention and needed funds to the poor.

One thing I always loved about Mother Teresa was her speaking out on behalf of the most helpless people: the unborn.  Her Nobel speech summed up her view: "I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion. . . . Because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me?  There is nothing in between."  Preach it, sister!  Er, Mother!  She backed it up by promoting adoption.  "Please don't kill the child. . . . I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child and be loved by the child."

However, I was never quite comfortable with her universalist-sounding talk.  There is no question that she was a follower of Christ, and that she followed and adored Christ in a way that has been equaled by few Christians.  But I have a hard time processing statements like this: "We convert Hindus into better Hindus. Muslims into better Muslims."  Surely there are many who became followers of Christ as a result of her ministry, but, at least in Wellman's telling, we don't hear of many.  To be sure, serving the poor for the sake of the poor, and touching them as if touching Jesus, is a good unto itself.  But I'm left wondering about her ready embrace of other faiths.

Wellman's uncritical treatment may not satisfy someone with a serious scholarly or theological interest in Mother Teresa's life and influence, but he captures her life and work in a way that will inspire the reader to try "something beautiful for God."

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans . . ."