I've been reading about Mother Teresa's confession of doubts. Hearing this has been an encouragement to me. I've never doubted God's existence, but I have been tempted to ask "Why, Lord?" Hearing about Mother Teresa's dark days makes me feel I am normal when I have down times. Her perserverance was a miracle, especially after reading about her dark days. This story gives hope to all of us. Below is the story.
The New York Times, August 29, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
A Saint’s Dark Night
By JAMES MARTIN
THE stunning revelations contained in a new book, which show that Mother Teresa doubted God’s existence, will delight her detractors and confuse her admirers. Or is it the other way around?
The private journals and letters of the woman now known as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta will be released next month as “Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light,” and some excerpts have been published in Time magazine. The pious title of the book, however, is misleading. Most of its pages reveal not the serene meditations of a Catholic sister confident in her belief, but the agonized words of a person confronting a terrifying period of darkness that lasted for decades.
“In my soul I feel just that terrible pain of loss,” she wrote in 1959, “of God not wanting me — of God not being God — of God not existing.” According to the book, this inner turmoil, known by only a handful of her closest colleagues, lasted until her death in 1997.
Gleeful detractors may point to this as yet another example of the hypocrisy of organized religion. The woman widely known in her lifetime as a “living saint” apparently didn't even believe in God.
It was not always so. In 1946, Mother Teresa, then 36, was hard at work in a girls school in Calcutta when she fell ill. On a train ride en route to some rest in Darjeeling, she had heard what she would later call a “voice” asking her to work with the poorest of the poor, and experienced a profound sense of God’s presence.
A few years later, however, after founding the Missionaries of Charity and beginning her work with the poor, darkness descended on her inner life. In 1957, she wrote to the archbishop of Calcutta about her struggles, saying, “I find no words to express the depths of the darkness.”
But to conclude that Mother Teresa was a crypto-atheist is to misread both the woman and the experience that she was forced to undergo.
Even the most sophisticated believers sometimes believe that the saints enjoyed a stress-free spiritual life — suffering little personal doubt. For many saints this is accurate: St. Francis de Sales, the 17th-century author of “An Introduction to the Devout Life,” said that he never went more than 15 minutes without being aware of God’s presence. Yet the opposite experience is so common it even has a name. St. John of the Cross, the Spanish mystic, labeled it the “dark night,” the time when a person feels completely abandoned by God, and which can lead even ardent believers to doubt God’s existence.
During her final illness, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the 19th-century French Carmelite nun who is now widely revered as “The Little Flower,” faced a similar trial, which seemed to center on doubts about whether anything awaited her after death. “If you only knew what darkness I am plunged into,” she said to the sisters in her convent. But Mother Teresa’s “dark night” was of a different magnitude, lasting for decades. It is almost unparalleled in the lives of the saints.
In time, with the aid of the priest who acted as her spiritual director, Mother Teresa concluded that these painful experiences could help her identify not only with the abandonment that Jesus Christ felt during the crucifixion, but also with the abandonment that the poor faced daily. In this way she hoped to enter, in her words, the “dark holes” of the lives of the people with whom she worked. Paradoxically, then, Mother Teresa’s doubt may have contributed to the efficacy of one of the more notable faith-based initiatives of the last century.
Few of us, even the most devout believers, are willing to leave everything behind to serve the poor. Consequently, Mother Teresa’s work can seem far removed from our daily lives. Yet in its relentless and even obsessive questioning, her life intersects with that of the modern atheist and agnostic. “If I ever become a saint,” she wrote, “I will surely be one of ‘darkness.’ ”
Mother Teresa’s ministry with the poor won her the Nobel Prize and the admiration of a believing world. Her ministry to a doubting modern world may have just begun.
James Martin is a Jesuit priest and the author of “My Life With the Saints.”
Mother Teresa painting is by Mark Sanislo
I love this Princess Diana doll and the dress she is wearing.
She called this her "Elvis dress!"
The beautiful rose above was named for Princess Diana.
Tributes to Princess Diana have been going on all week in memory of the tenth anniversary of her death August 31, 1997.
One of my favorite photos of Princess Diana. She is wearing the gown she called her "Elvis" outfit! It has about a million seed pearls sewed all over it!
My daughter's were Diana watchers, therefore so was I! We collected several books about Diana, mostly featuring the gorgeous clothes she wore so elegantly. We loved her hair styles! She captured hearts with her shy smiles. She gained our respect with her dedication to charities. She wanted to be remembered as "Queen of Hearts" and that she is. 
Princess Diana: born July 1, 1961, Died August 31, 1997.
Mother Teresa and Princess Diana died within a week of each other. Both women were highly respected, both in different ways. Both will always be remembered always. How totally opposite they both were, yet they both touched lives in positive ways.
I've been reading about Mother Teresa's confession of doubts. Hearing this has been an encouragement to me. I've never doubted God's existence, but I have been tempted to ask "Why, Lord?" Hearing about Mother Teresa's dark days makes me feel I am normal when I have down times. Her perserverance was a miracle, especially after reading about her dark days. This story gives hope to all of us. Below is the story.
These two are a frosted yellow glass.
These three are clear yellow glass with a pretty etched design. The top dish is a candy dish with a handle in the center.
I like all depression glass because it is so dainty, but yellow is the only color I collect, because yellow is my favorite color! The yellow depression glass is a little harder to find too, making it more of a challenge. I haven't added to my collection in a while. Maybe it's time to go hunting again!
Thank you for your prayers, and for the comments on yesterdays blog. I so appreciate all of you who shared scripture and who shared your painful experiences. Thank you for understanding. Thank you for "holding up my arms" while they are so tired! Wednesday we talk to the doctor and find out more about the radiation.
Elisabeth Rebecca, age 1.
Our second grandbaby had her first birthday party yesterday (Saturday.) If you remember, last year we had two grandbabies born two weeks apart, a boy first, then a girl. This little lady is the reason I haven't been online very much lately. I was working diligently on her photo album to share with her other grandparents on her birthday. We were gone all day yesterday and came home late last night. The party was a big success. Now I'll be working on the zillion pictures we took of her party! My computer is slow and it will take a while to load them. In the meantime, I'm sharing two studio photos we were given of Elisabeth! It's hard to believe these babies have grown so much this past year, seems like only yesterday they were born!
I have enjoyed seeing other Show and Tell pictures of grandmothers, so I am featuring two pictures of my grandmother. The larger photo on the stand is of my grandmother when she was a baby. She was born on Christmas Day. The smaller oval frame holds a tiny photo of her when she was a teenager. She married my grandfather when she was sixteen, and he was 35, a widower with two small boys. He was over six feet tall, and she was about 5 feet two inches! They had four more children. They were married 55 years when he died. She lived to be 91. She was loved by all! Her great-grandchildren called her Nana, but her grandchildren, we called her "Mama!" My grandfather was "Papa!" He was a fine man too!
After enjoying seeing all the beautiful shell displays Lallee http://lalleescottage.blogspot.com/ shared Friday, I thought I would share my shells. Now I have lived in Florida 41 years and haven't taken advantage of shell seeking very much. Oh, when the children were small we collected them at the beach, but I never did anything much with them, and don't have any now to speak of. I think there may be a big conch shell on the back porch. Anyway, with tongue in cheek I share with you my shells -- glass shells!!
I enjoy participating in Kelli's Show and Tell even though I can't weekly. Go to Kelli's blog to see many other Show and Tell items: http://www.kellishouse.blogspot.com/
We are now located about 85 miles north of Kennedy Space Center where the Space Shuttle is launched. We can see the Shuttle in the sky even this far away! There was a Shuttle launch last night at 6:30 p.m.! The Endeavour Shuttle with teacher Barbara Morgan aboard was a successful launch! Praise God!
My youngest grandson, Caden, turned one last Friday! We went to SC to celebrate his big birthday! It was so much fun being there with him!
Caden's mommy, Ashleigh, made the doggie cake! It is a 7-up pound cake (delicious!) She decorated the top with frosting to look like a cocker spaniel dog. 
When Caden saw the doggie cake he took a handful!
Caden feeds himself chunks of the doggie cake!
This large inflatable cupcake was fun at the party!
Each year on his birthday, Caden will stand beside the big cup cake for his picture to be taken for his growth to be documented.
Big Joe takes Caden for a ride around the house! Later they walked around the block!
Above: Grady is ready to party!
Here are pictures of Caden laughing! Big Joe makes silly faces at Caden and makes him laugh!
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The wavey edges are so pretty
