Teresa of Avila

All this week I’ve been ready to start my post on Teresa of Ávila (Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, Inc., 1979), a book based on selections from The Interior Castle (Ávila, 1577), but I’ve dilly-dallied in octopus mode while mentally preparing.

Why can’t I just write?  Reading the book I had lots of ideas, so why am I at a loss for words?  Maybe the ol’ pea brain’s too full?  Maybe the dendrites need time to process all I want to write?  Maybe I need to familiarize myself with St. Teresa a bit more?  Something’s missing, but how can this be?

So much of what I read and hear daily reminds me of St. Teresa of Ávila; so much of her writing resonates with meaning.

Oblivious devotion

Take Sunday afternoon, for instance.  As Steven was covering the garden area with newspapers I was totally absorbed hosing them down to keep them from blowing away.  Then, suddenly, I realized that—  Oh, my, gosh!  I’m standing kissing-close to the yaupon holly!  “Darling, do these bees sting?”

“Oh, yes, they do!  But they’re too busy doing their own thing.  Do you know that some believe the yaupon holly’s honey is the best there is?  It fetches a pretty penny, too.”

I’m so close to the tree that I’m at eye level among these bees!!!  I’m standing here making noise with the water hose, and they’re totally oblivious of me.  They could very easily sting me, but they’re wholly engrossed in what they love.  Oh, my, gosh!  What a perfect metaphor for what St. Teresa wrote!

Recurring thoughts

From the moment I began reading her book, St. Teresa has kept my mind engaged— wondering, visualizing, making meaning— through key words and phrases heard and/or read elsewhere in the media.  Coincidence? 

A yellow post-it with humility underlined and a reference to Sirach 3:17-30 has graced my computer desk for the past six weeks for no particular reason.  Similarly, the phrase surrendering oneself to God has cropped up in readings, homilies, conversations, and other communications during this time.

Funny, isn’t it, how these not so sublime messages avail themselves as gentle reminders that something worthwhile is percolating, as in it’ll make sense soon enough!

Timely response

“Knowing how way leads onto way” (Frost, 1915), the ol’ pea brain merrily short-circuits on its many tangents and gets distracted by too much information… until a ffft! moment— a fleeting thought that vanishes as quickly as it comes to light, here-and-gone so fast that it couldn’t possibly make a dendrite connection— unexpectedly sparks the missing momentum and everything falls into place.  So…

Is there a special St. Teresa of Ávila prayer?  I need to find it!

Without expecting a same-day response, Simple Ways to Pray arrived in the afternoon mail.  Oh, how I laughed when I saw the back cover!

Since God has impeccable timing, I took St. Teresa of Ávila’s prayer as his perfectly-timed nudge for me to start writing already!

July 12, 2013

Holy Spirit, watch over me today.  Remind me of all the reasons I have to trust God.  Nudge me when you want me to speak.  Open my heart, Lord, and widen my horizons (the Word among us, July/August 2013, p. 31).

June 2, 2014

Be attentive, O God, when I am neglecting my time with you, time for reflection on your Word and time to rest with you in silence.  Create in me a faithful spirit that is always open to your gentle nudges when I get distracted or too busy (Sr. Maria Tasto, OSB).

March 3, 2015

Let nothing disturb you, nothing cause you fear.  All things pass; God is unchanging.  Patience obtains all.  Whomever has God needs nothing else; God alone suffices (St. Teresa of Ávila).

October 5, 2015

“I suggest that you pray to Our Lord that he assist you and give you the direction you need” (Bl. Marie-Rose Durocher).

November 27, 2015

We need to look close and listen to hear the voice of God….  God speaks to us in gentle, simple, random ways.  Just as we notice nature signaling the change of seasons— first subtly, then obviously— we should be keenly attuned to the sure signs of God nudging us and challenging us to become signs of the kingdom.  Plant seeds of compassion within me, Lord (Patricia Russell).

September 3, 2016

Do not follow where the path may lead.  Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail (Muriel Strode).

September 28, 2016

“Humility is nothing but truth, and pride is nothing but lying” (St. Vincent de Paul).

“Humility is nothing other than the conviction that God is God and only God— and that man is man, and nothing but man” (Romano Guardini in The Rosary of Our Lady).

May 30, 2017

The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same.  [Our] lessons come from the journey, not the destination (Don Williams Jr.).

National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe – Libertyville, IL

Links of interest…  Father Solanus Guild…  Franciscan Mission Associates…  The road not taken (Frost, 1916; quotes)…  Interior castle: St. Teresa’s diamond…  Listen to hear God speaking to you…  Mary’s intercession speeds up the hour of grace…  Saintly six / solutions to life’s common problems…  St.Teresa of Ávila: about / autobiography (more) / biography / chaplet / feast day (Oct. 15) / first woman church doctor / foundress / frases / friendship with Jesus / headaches / heart of a warrior / history / holiness & works / interior castle (more / video) / memorial / mystic / poems / prayers / quotes / saint / tribute (movie) / videos…  What Robert Frost taught me about feeling alone…  Yaupon holly: honey / tree…

WP posts…  Budding relationships…  Gift of love…  In good time…  Making meaning…  Seven dwelling places…  Solano, Solanus, Solani…  Soulful…  Two letters