The Seventh Dwelling

I finally made it to the climax of the Interior Castle – the Seventh Dwelling. St Teresa again uses a lot of analogies to describe what this dwelling is like, but the one that makes the most sense to me is that of two candles. One candle is the soul and the other is God, and they merge into one candle, one flame. The union is so complete and perfect that the two candles become one. And the candles can also be separated back out into two distinct entities. Where there was always a separation between the soul and God in previous dwellings, here it is gone.

And now she addresses the purpose of prayer, the reason behind this union of soul and God:

The Beloved is dwelling in this soul in a unique way. She should relinquish all thought of resting and let go of any craving for personal honor or recognition. If the soul is so deeply with God, then she should not think so much about herself. She will be exclusively concerned with finding ways to please him and showing how much she loves him. This, my friends, is the purpose of prayer. This is the reason for the spiritual marriage. Good works are born from this. Good works.

Finding ways to please God and showing him how much we love him – the purpose of prayer. I like that. And she takes it a bit further:

Reflect deeply on this. I cannot overemphasize its importance. Fix your eyes on the crucified and everything else will seem insignificant. Since Christ demonstrated his love by doing such amazing things and suffering so radically for us, how can your mere words be enough to please the Beloved? Do you know what it means to be truly spiritual? It means to become a slave to God. We are branded with the sign of the cross. It is the token we have given him our freedom. Now he can offer us as servants to the whole world, as he offers himself. This does us no harm. In fact, he is granting us a great boon.

Until we surrender to this divine slavery, we cannot expect to make much progress. The foundation of the whole building is humility. If you are not truly humble, the Beloved will not build very high, for your own sake. Otherwise it will all come tumbling to the ground.

And so friends, if you want to lay a decent foundation, strive to be the least among you. Offer yourself as a slave to God and try to find ways to serve and soothe your companions. This will be of even more value to you than to them; the stones that support you will be firmly laid and your castle will not fall.

Those are great words, insightful and wise, simple and challenging. We could all do well to live by them.

Comments

[Jim]

I am always amazed how such experience spoken of by those within the Catholic faith resembles that which we in Pentecoste denote as being "baptized in the Holy Ghost". Words. Sometimes I think all that separates most of us is words..........and perhaps a heart that is not willing to span the gulf...

[Steve Bogner]

Underneath all the denominations, terminology, doctrine, tradition, dogma, theology and such there is one Truth. I think that what separates a lot of us in the world is not so much words, but fear.

[Steven Riddle]

Dear Steve,

Now, as I tell my Carmelite group, what do you plan to DO about it?

Reading St. Teresa is commendable--but has it changed your life? If not, then the reading was ineffectual and it might be time to start all over again and rather than simply seeing what the foundations look like, let it sink in. You have the plan of the book in mind--find out what Teresa intended for every person who read it.

This is by far the most difficult part. We can read the pretty words and the interesting images (and in this particular book St. Teresa is more on topic than off for a change). But insights and wisdom are insufficient. The only purpose in reading a great work of spirituality is to allow it to change you materially. And my question to you is what are three concrete things you learned from the book that you can practice every single day? Take them and pray about them and put them into practice, thanking God for the leadership of a St. Teresa.

(Sorry to sound so rough--it's the teacher in me. Too many read the words and don't live the life. It's what Dorothy Day meant (I think) when she said, "Don't call me a saint, I don't want to be dismissed that easily."

The purpose of reading St. Teresa is not to have read her, so let her teaching change your life. Let's talk about it.

shalom,

Steven

[Steve Bogner]

Chiding? Rough? Not at all!

What I Learned from St Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle, by Steve Bogner

I had read about the importance of humility and self awareness before, but this book showed why it is so important. I have been working on practicing those two things, not only in my prayer life but in the world every day.

St Teresa said that when we get stuck in prayer (my terms, not hers) then it helps to reflect on the humanity of Jesus. That has helped me immensely. I had never really done that before - but doing so really has helped.

Reading about the trials and difficulties people experience in different stages of contemplative prayer has also helped me become more patient with myself. I am not a type A personality, but I am accustomed to mastering whatever activity I take on. When I fall short of that mastery it is often difficult to move on, but now I recognize these stumbling blocks are my own; things that I hold on to, and have the power to release.

So has the book changed my life? Yes, it has, to the extent that I have let it do so. I'm not going to pretend it made me a saint over the course of a couple months. I read a few chapters, and then a few days later came back and read them again - trying to let each soak in really deep. And trying to put into practice what I was reading. That approach worked for me.

[Steven Riddle]

Dear Steve,

Excellent. Exactly the way to approach such a demanding work. And it would be well to take from it things that you can continue to do (such as reflecting on the humanity of Jesus) and make a constant practice of them. That way the book really can begin to help you form a mind more focused on and dedicated to God's work. (Not that you don't have one already, but even the best of us could use some improvement.)

shalom,

Steven

[Elena]

"One candle is the soul and the other is God, and they merge into one candle, one flame. The union is so complete and perfect that the two candles become one. "

In view of that and John Paul's developments in TOTB, the couple imaging God, etc., I wonder if you this has advanced your your views on contraception?

[Steve Bogner]

Hi Elena - No, the book didn't change my thoughts on contraception.