He wrote something that ended up on the bedroom wall of Mother Teresa. You might expect it to be the work of a much-heralded saint from church history. Nope! It’s written by a relative unknown in religious circles. He’s been a faithful Sunday School teacher and choir member, but hardly a theological heavyweight.
Kent Keith (1949-) could be classified as the quintessential American entrepreneur. He’s been an attorney, a state government official, a high-tech park developer, president of two private universities, former YMCA executive and lay preacher. He wrote a book in 1968 titled Paradoxical Commandments that included several of his own poems. One of his poems found its way to the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India where Mother Teresa lived. The poem certainly fits what we know about Mother Teresa’s tenacity as a follower of Christ. While technically not a prayer, it can be used as a aid in prayer. For instance, in the first line, Keith mentions people who are “unreasonable, illogical, or self-centered” and then resolves with God’s help to forgive them anyway. As you go to God in prayer today, identify people in prayer you have a hard time forgiving and ask for God’s strength to begin a process to forgive them anyway: