Love Anyway

by Michael Havercamp, director of Young Life Catholic Relations

Luke Ebener directs youth ministry at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church and leads WyldLife.

Mother Teresa (now Saint Teresa) had a poem hung on the wall at Shishu Bhavan, her home for children in Calcutta. This poem is often referred to as the “Love Anyway” or “Do It Anyway” poem and is almost universally attributed to the Albanian nun whose calling to “the poorest of the poor” inspired the whole world. The poem was actually written by Kent Keith in 1968 when he was a sophomore at Harvard College, and the poem won worldwide acclaim only after it was discovered in 1997 after the death of Mother Teresa.

A couple weeks ago I couldn’t help but notice a similar poem scribbled on the wall of our parish youth minister who is also a Young Life leader. Luke Ebener is the director of Youth & Young Adult Ministry at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Davenport, Iowa, where he also serves as a WyldLife leader. Luke’s poem was enough to stop me in my tracks and encourage my spirit at a time when I really needed it. Borrowing from the scope and meter of the “Love Anyway” poem, Luke wrote:

Kids will make mistakes, disappoint you, break the rules, and take advantage of you. 

Love them anyway.

Kids will not return your phone calls and text messages and may laugh at your awkward attempts to connect with them. 

Pursue them anyway.

Kids will not accept your invitations. 

Invite them anyway.

Kids will avoid your questions and talk about anything but the topic at hand. 

Ask questions anyway.

Kids will think you are "too holy" or talk about Jesus too much. 

Be holy anyway.

Kids may not respond to all of the creative ways you try to articulate the Gospel. 

Be creative in communicating the Gospel anyway.

Kids will talk over you, not listen, be distracted, and not believe what you say. 

Speak truth anyway.

The seeds you plant in these kids today you may never see grow. 

Plant seeds anyway.

In the end, God isn’t going to ask you how these teens responded, how far they got while you were their leader, or how cool the kids think you are. He’s going to ask you if you loved them like He loves you. And did you witness the Good News of the Gospel?

Keep loving those teens. Keep fighting the good fight. The Spirit is alive in you.

Luke’s words speak to us all as we love kids, share the Gospel, and keep fighting the good fight. Even when our best efforts seem to come to naught, we keep working, believing in the resurrecting power of Jesus.

His words serve as a reminder to me in Catholic Relations. Even though what takes us years to build could experience roadblocks and setbacks, we need to build anyway. Even though the healed and reconciled hearts we foster today could tomorrow be wounded once again by small-mindedness and division, we need to heal and reconcile anyway. Even if the global call to a “new evangelization” could be mired in a mentality that says, “We’ve always done it this way,” we need to evangelize anyway. Because in the end, we trust that “no word from God will ever fail” (Luke 1:37). Yes, Jesus has promised us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). 

Silently Comes the Kingdom

“But [Jesus] was silent and did not answer.”

Mark 14:61

Heinrich Suso was a Dominican holy man who lived in the fourteenth century.[1]  An itinerant preacher of the gospel, Suso had acquired a far-reaching reputation for godliness.  One day a scheming woman left her newly born babe on the doorstep of Suso’s house and spread the rumor that he was the father.  Seemingly unphased by the accusation, Heinrich took the child, caressed it, saying, “Dear child, I will take care of you, for you are God’s child and therefore mine too.  So long as God gives me a single mouthful, I will share it with you to the glory of God; and I will bear patiently whatever may happen to me on your account.” 

Heinrich faced harsh criticism from all sides, even from his own friends who were all too ready to point scornful fingers at him and mock his reputation.  He was ridiculed, scorned and abandoned.  Heinrich withstood the accusations with serene silence, caring for the child with gentle devotion.  Not until the accusing woman lay at death’s door did she confess that Heinrich was not the father.

Sometimes silence is the loudest answer.

Jesus too showed remarkable poise in the face of false accusation, even if that led to his own death.  The above passage marks one of the few occasions that Jesus’ only response to a question was silence.  “Have you no answer?” shouted the chief priests.[2]  “Have you no answer?” Pilate exclaimed.[3]  Jesus was silent. 

But why?  He was unjustly accused!  An innocent man!  Why not stand up and declare your righteousness?  Point your finger back at them!  Jesus knew His equality with God was not something to be grasped.  His was a mission of servanthood, humility and obedience.  Inspiring countless others throughout history, like Heinrich Suso, Jesus knew that only God could right all the wrongs of a fallen humanity.  Only God could heal our blindness and reveal His true nature in the Suffering Servant.

A priest friend of mine recently reminded me that if you want to follow Jesus, “you gotta look good on wood.”  The reconciling work of God’s kingdom is far from easy.  As quickly as you build bridges, there will be those eager to tear them down.  Your work for unity will meet those who’d rather focus on the divisions.  Your commitment to justice may earn you some real enemies and false friends.

The question is, how will you respond?  Are you of the same mind as Christ Jesus?  Are you quick to defend yourself or point the finger?  Would you be willing to sacrifice your own reputation (and perhaps your own ego) for the sake of the gospel?  Are you ready to follow Jesus in all things, silently going about the work of the kingdom?

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;


Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;


Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;


Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight.


Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;


Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;


Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;


Give the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis it is between you and God;


it was never between you and them anyway.

~Mother Teresa

---

            [1]  Heinrich Suso was a German-born mystic and priest of the Dominican Order.  Trained in the Rhineland school, Suso’s writing is considered some of the finest fruits of German mysticism.  His feast day is celebrated on January 23^rd.

            [2]  Mark 14:60.

            [3]  Mark 15:4.