et tu, Mother Teresa?

Posted on November 12, 2006 by Marcus

While reading ‘Half Asleep In Frog Pajamas’ by Tom Robbins, I came across this passage-
“Have you ever heard of a saint who was creative, brilliant, attractive, or anything besides a masochistic, sexually dysfunctional, unnatural egotist who thinks he or she’s spiritually superior to you because he or she revels in misery and you don’t? People who’ve bought into poverty are just as shallow and exploitative as those who’ve bought into wealth. Both have been stultified by their lack of imagination.”

About Marcus

Who me? Introverted, neurotic, self-absorbed, increasingly cynical observer of human nature and part time social critic in hiding. Most of my life spent avoiding growing up. The naive idealistic passions of youth have evolved into the eclectic eccentricities of adulthood. Northeast Florida small-town native, related to people I can't relate to. Simultaneously my own best friend and worst enemy. Politically and spiritually unaffiliated, my personal ideologies put me all over the map or off it completely.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

10 Responses to et tu, Mother Teresa?

  1. nodressrehersal says:
    November 12, 2006 at 2:42 PM

    Interesting concept, weighing both extremes and finding them equal on a scale. I’m just not sure I’d be willing to say Mother Teresa was “stultified”; old school fear of retribution, I suppose.

    Reply
    • marcsuttle says:
      November 12, 2006 at 9:17 PM

      It was recently that I first read negative assessments of Mother Teresa and her methods. After some research it turns out she has her share of critics. I’m neither a Catholic nor a Mother Teresa basher. Just thought it was interesting Robbins wrote on the subject three years before she died.

      Reply
      • nodressrehersal says:
        November 12, 2006 at 9:39 PM

        I agree. It’s kind of like people who seem happiest when they’re miserable, or those who hold the belief that only suffering brings you closer to God.
        Not me. I think the whole point of life is to revel in the joys, big and small.

  2. papoose says:
    November 12, 2006 at 4:24 PM

    I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by him. I could have sworn I had. Do you recommend him?

    Reply
    • marcsuttle says:
      November 12, 2006 at 9:22 PM

      Highly.
      (1971) Another Roadside Attraction
      (1976) Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
      (1980) Still Life with Woodpecker
      (1984) Jitterbug Perfume
      (1990) Skinny Legs and All
      (1994) Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
      (2000) Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
      (2003) Villa Incognito

      Reply
  3. mentalageof_4 says:
    November 12, 2006 at 4:44 PM

    Sure I have, St. Frances.
    But an apt generalization, nonetheless.

    Reply

Leave a comment