Saturday, September 13, 1997

Whose death received the most publicity?

By MICHAEL O'CONNOR

Abilene Reporter-News

That Mother Teresa's death should be overshadowed by the death of Princess Diana seems to me to be somehow quite appropriate.

In life, Diana made a fuss about the publicity given her, but she often sought it out when it served her purposes. Teresa, on the other hand, had the public spotlight thrust on her and accepted the attention reluctantly, even though it had the potential to further her cause.

This is but one of the contrasts between the two women, though I have heard efforts to put the pair on the same plane of importance. In reality, the two women are probably the best examples of the biblical dictum that the first shall be last and the last first in the kingdom of God.

The orgy of grief over Diana disturbs me. In our time-honored tradition of refusing to speak ill of the dead, we are making her into a woman she may never have really been. Strangely, we will do the same to Teresa, but for different reasons.

Diana, we hear proclaimed, draws such devotion because she was an example of a woman who overcame great adversity. We can relate to her because she was like us. Nonsense - unless, of course, you were raised in wealth and privilege, married into greater wealth and privilege, and managed to gain celebrity status. Unless you are an admitted adulterer who made multiple attempts to take your life, lapsed into eating disorders and divorced your spouse because he or she made you unhappy.

In fact many of us do fit the latter description - as do several biblical figures. Ready as we are to excuse those behaviors, in our- selves and others, the simple fact is that the Bible bluntly labels such actions as sin and declares that the only true redemption comes not through publicity jaunts to the world's troubles spots - works righteousness - but by God's grace.

Diana was our fantasy. We like to think that we have our failings, sure, but we can overcome them. We like to think if we had great wealth we would love the common people and would instead use our position and money to advance humanitarian causes. And because Diana died young at a time when she seemed to be settled and happy, we can freeze the fantasy and believe she would have lived happily ever after. But we shall never know.

Teresa, however, is not our fantasy Few among us dream of living a life that simply provides for our needs and giving our- selves in service to the lowest of humanity. But those of us in the Christian faith should understand that Teresa may not be what we want to be, but she was what we are called to be - a faithful servant of God whose devotion to her savior led her to give her life over to "the least of these."

The testimony of her 80 something years on earth - more than twice Diana's - was that it is possible for a human to faithfully live the calling of Christ. But we will proclaim her a saint and declare we could never be saints. More nonsense.

Saints aren't special people we can never be like. All Christians are considered saints in the scripture. We are all called to live devoted lives, following Christ wherever he leads us, even to the renouncing of our sinful ways and the ministries of sharing the Gospel and tending to the needs of the poor and powerless in our world.

Teresa's life may inspire us or convict us, but it must never be thought of as unreachable by the likes of us.

The world will mourn its hero. But in God's economy, a short, unglamorous nun who saw need, rolled up her sleeves and went to work, shunning fortune and fame is the real hero.

And in the most amazing con- trast of all, we need not mourn for her, for she has attained true life.