Lifelong educator Mary Poplin, after experiencing a newfound awakening to faith, sent a letter to Calcutta asking if she could visit Mother Teresa and volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity. She received a response saying, "You are welcome to share in our works of love for the poorest of the poor." So in the spring of 1996, Poplin spent two months in Calcutta as a volunteer. There she observed Mother Teresa's life of work and service to the poor, participating in the community's commitments to simplicity and mercy. Mother Teresa's unabashedly religious work stands in countercultural contrast to the limitations of our secular age. Poplin's journey gives us an inside glimpse into one of the most influential lives of the twentieth century and the lessons Mother Teresa continues to offer. Upon Poplin's return, she soon discovered that God was calling her to serve the university world with the same kind of holistic service with which Mother Teresa served Calcutta. Not everyone can go to Calcutta. But all of us can find our own meaningful work and service. Come and answer the call to find your Calcutta!
"If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be a worldly California academic curious enough to volunteer in Mother Teresa's Calcutta Mission, prepare to be surprised. After struggling to translate her experience there for a secular audience, Dr. Poplin has ended by translating her readers into Mother Teresa's own unfamiliar, spiritual dimension. Watch out--you will not be able to keep from meditating."
C. John Sommerville, author of The Decline of the Secular University
"Finding Calcutta is an intriguing journey of faith and insight as Mary Poplin discovers how to integrate her newfound faith into her well entrenched academic world. Her forthright approach is refreshingly honest without becoming an expose. Her practical understanding of Mother Theresa's faith and resultant purpose would be appreciated by Mother Theresa herself for the glory brought to God."
Lisa R. Roberts, Dharma Deepika, January-June 2010
"While on one level, Finding Calcutta is a reflection of one woman's interaction with Mother Teresa and the Sisters of Charity, it is also a deeper call to the readers to discover their own 'Calcutta' and to live there with the same measure of abandon. The simplicity and focus of the sisters in Finding Calcutta helped me acknowledge that the small ways I move toward offering my life (even addressing those darn shopping addictions) can be as 'beautiful for God' as an irresistible revolution."
The Link Between (www.thelinkbetween.wordpress.com), November 19, 2008
