Amy Carmichael, A Forever Hero

  If I say, "Yes, I forgive, but I cannot forget,"
as though the God,
who twice a day washes all the sands
on all the shores of all the world,
could not wash such memories from my mind,
then I know nothing of Calvary love.

Meet Amy Carmichael, one of my forever heroes. I knew of her while in college.  When I think of  a textbook on Christian character, I think of her book “If” next to the Scriptures. An early indication to me that Don and I might be kindred spirits was his very first gifts to me, a flowering Gloxinia and a copy of “If.” This was way before we started dating and before he knew what I thought of Amy Carmichael.


 DOHNAVUR FELLOWSHIP
 

Born on December 16, 1867 in Ireland, Amy left for missionary work in India at the age of 28. There she found her calling, saving children from the practice of prostitution in the Hindu temples. She established the Dohnavur Fellowship dedicated to this purpose. This ministry saved thousands of girls and boys from human trafficking. In 1931 she suffered a fall that made her an invalid. It was during this time that she wrote most of her work. She served in Southern India for 55 years without taking a furlough until her death in 1951. She is buried in the grounds of the Dohnavur Fellowship. She did not want a headstone to mark her grave, rather a birdbath marks her final resting place. 
 

CALVARY LOVE

If I am content to heal a hurt slightly, saying "Peace,peace," where there is no peace; if I forget the poignant word "Let love be without dissimulation" and blunt the edge of truth, speaking not right things but smooth things, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

 

 If I can enjoy a joke at the expense of another; if I can in any way slight another in  conversation, or even in thought, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, forgetting "Who made thee to differ? And what hast thou that thou hast not received?" then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I love to be loved more than to love, to be served more than to serve, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I can easily discuss the shortcomings of any; if I can speak in a casual way of
a child’s misdoings, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

           If I covet any place on earth but the dust at the foot of the Cross, then I know
           nothing of Calvary love.