Kalispell 3rd Ward - "Sisters in Zion"

SUCH A GIFT”

In her book Such a Vision of the Street, Eileen Egan, a lay person who worked with the Missionaries of Charity for 30 years, describes Mother Teresa’s beatific outlook:

One day, after my conversation had been filled with a litany of problems, Mother Teresa remarked, “Everything is a ‘problem.’ Why not use the word gift?” With that began a shift in vocabulary.

Shortly thereafter, we were to fly from Vancouver to New York City. I was dismayed to learn that the trip had to be broken en route, with a long delay, and was about to inform her of the “problem.” Then I caught myself and said, “Mother, I have to tell you about a gift. We have to wait four hours here, and you won’t arrive at the convent until very late.” Mother Teresa settled down in the airport to read a book of meditations, a favorite of hers.

From that time on, items that presented disappointments or difficulties would be introduced with “We have a small gift here” or “Today we have an especially big gift.” There were smiles, perhaps rueful, at situations that earlier had been described by the dour word problem.

July 1990 - Readers Digest