Abide – Teresa of Avila
Welcome everyone, and welcome to Abide.
This is a time where all of us are carving out a space in our day, where we want to get to know God more. And we're in a series, right now, of walking with the Saints, the friends of Jesus. And my prayer is that their wisdom, and their insights, and their experience of walking with Jesus will help empower us to walk more closely and more intentionally with our Lord.
And I'm so grateful for the creative team that I get to work with on a regular basis. Jeff and Mya. And Onesimus, who was our musician for the last two podcasts. And today, we have Joy with us. And in the weeks to come, we'll have Sam and Heather again. I just so appreciate their creativity, and their connection and relationship to God, and what they bring to this time of prayer. So, as all of us come together in different spaces and times, I know this is a beautiful offering to our Creator.
So, let us all get settled in our spaces for prayer, now. Whether that's getting all bundled up and going on a walk. Or maybe you're having to be patient, in your seat, on your commute. Or whether you are able to go in a room and close the door, and sit, possibly lie down. Whatever your space is like, let's all recognise that Jesus is with us. Present with us. Presencing Himself in the environments we're all in. In the tangible environments we are in, Jesus is revealing His presence. So, just become aware of that.
And along with Jesus, we get the privilege of having Saint Teresa of Avila with us today. And so, she, too, will sit with us. Sit with us on the bus, or in the car, or on the bench, or maybe she'll walk next to you. We get to hear her story today, and we get to glean from her devotion to God and listen to her words.
And we'll just start to settle our bodies, minds, and hearts into our spaces of prayer. With an inhale. And an exhale. And then I will read a short piece of Teresa's work, and then I'll have us breathe in and out, and then I'll read it again.
So, let's all together, breathe in. And exhale out, just following the breath all the way out, allowing yourself to slow down.
Teresa writes, “Let nothing disturb you, nothing distress you. While all things fade away, God is unchanging. Be patient, for with God in your heart, nothing is lacking. God is enough.”
Breathe in. Breathe out.
“Let nothing disturb you, nothing distress you. While all things fade away, God is unchanging. Be patient, for with God in your heart, nothing is lacking. God is enough.”
Breathe in. And breathe out.
Wonderful.
And as we're settled in this space, I just invite you, now, to maybe speak to Jesus, or inquire with Teresa, why you're here. What is it that you're seeking, here, in this time of prayer? What is it that you're longing for or that you need? Just recognise what your intention is, in this time, and speak that to Jesus, now.
We're reminded in the Scriptures to come and share with Jesus all that we are experiencing, all that we need, all that we are longing. And that He listens. He cares. He's attentive to us. He's attentive to you.
We're going to read our story, as we often do, and we read from the book entitled ‘Stories of the Saints,’ by Kerry Wallace. And this is the story of Teresa of Avila.
“When Teresa was still a young woman, she got so sick that everyone in the convent she had joined was sure she was going to die, including Teresa. The other nuns already had her grave picked out. They even had a funeral for her. But instead of dying, Teresa got better. For a long time, she was paralysed, and then she could only crawl around on her hands and knees. But finally, after weeks and months, she was able to walk again. And during all that time, she prayed. When Teresa prayed, sometimes she forgot where she was. She didn't see the world around her because she saw God, and heaven, and the angels. Sometimes when she saw these things, she was overwhelmed with joy. But she wasn't afraid to speak her mind to God, too. One day, when she was travelling, her donkey threw her into a river. ‘Lord,’ she said, soaking wet and covered with mud, ‘If this is how you treat your friends, it's no wonder you have so few of them.’ Another time, she heard God's voice say, ‘I don't want you to talk with people, now. I want you to talk with angels.’ Immediately, Teresa saw an angel with a face of flame, holding a golden spear with a burning point. The angel plunged the spear into Teresa. She could feel the spear pull everything that had been
inside of her, out, not just the flesh of her organs, but her memories and secrets, her sins and wounds, her fears and dreams. Nothing in Teresa's life had ever hurt so much. But it didn't leave her feeling hollow. Instead, she was filled back up with the love of God. Teresa spent the rest of her life teaching other people to pray in communities she started all over Spain. The people who joined her left everything behind to devote themselves to a life of prayer. As a sign that spiritual things were more important to them than material ones, they wore sandals, even in the winter. So, people nicknamed them ‘The Barefoot.’
‘Praying is like watering a garden,’ Teresa said. ‘At first, we have to draw water from a deep well by hand. It's hard work, and it seems to take forever. Later, as we get to know God better, it's as if a stream springs up in our garden. We don't have to strain to drag water up from the dark pit of our hearts. Instead, it bubbles up in us. And finally, if we keep on in prayer, God Himself begins to pour rain on our garden, and it bursts into bloom with all kinds of fruits and flowers.’
Teresa also said that 'Praying is like exploring a glass castle, hidden in our hearts. In the first room, we find humility. In the second room is where we learn prayer. There's a room for thoughtfulness and one for silence. And then, there's a room full of light. After the light, we come to a room of dark night. It might even seem like we've lost our way. But finally, once we pray through all the rooms, in the very centre, the castle, we meet God.'"
Spend some time just being still in your environment. Knowing that Christ is with you. And the presence of Teresa's life is with you, too, like a friend.
Allow me to bring out some points within the story, and I will reread part of the story as we go.
The story reads, “When Teresa was still a young woman, she got so sick that everyone in the convent she had joined was sure she was going to die. But instead of dying, Teresa got better. For a long time, she was paralysed. And then, she could only crawl around on her hands and knees. But finally, after weeks and months, she was able to walk again. And during all that time, she prayed.”
So, here, we have another origin story of how our Saint came to know Jesus. And what our story wasn't able to unfold is that Teresa was born in a large family, one of thirteen or so children, and was born in a Christian family, and a wealthy family. And she loved Jesus from a very early age. But when she was about thirteen years old, her mother died in childbirth, and that's when a lot of things changed in Teresa's life. She began to seek for love, not by God alone, but by other humans. And this is when she got into a serious relationship with someone, and this is when her father said, this isn't going to happen, and
he sent her to a convent or a boarding school, during that time, to just sort of knock some sense into her, I guess. And she returned two years later to her father. She was in horrible health, near death. And this is when we come into the story today. That she had this near-death experience and then was revived. And through that slow process of being paralysed, and then walking on her hands and knees, this discipline of prayer and communion with God came forward.
And so, I invite us all to return again to our origin stories. And with Teresa, there's death, death of someone she loves so deeply, and there's sickness, and there's change, and there's moving. And all of these things were a part of her story to bring her to a greater awareness of God.
And so, maybe at this time, you can speak to Jesus, and even, you know, the spirit of Teresa, with us, sharing some of your challenges that brought you to God. Some of the sorrows, some of the stumblings, some of the hurts. And acknowledge those as being part of your story, and a part of how God holds your story in His hands, even the suffering and the hurt.
The story goes on to read, “One day, when she was travelling, her donkey threw her into a river. ‘Lord,’ she said, soaking wet, covered with mud, ‘If this is how you treat your friends, it's no wonder you have so few of them.’”
And this quote I have known for quite some time, and it always makes me laugh because Teresa's so up front with God, and not afraid. And I think it's important for us all to cultivate this ability to be frustrated or hurt by how life, and how it turns out, and how that then affects our relationship with Jesus. Does He really care about us? Is He watching over us? And you might take a moment, now, just to even reflect on what's been going on in the last few days or weeks, where you feel sort of stranded by God? Does He care? Kind of like Teresa and her donkey throwing her into a river when she's sopping wet.
There's a lot of room in our relationships with God to speak about the challenges, and the hardships, and the inconveniences, and to be honest about it, how exhausting it can all feel. Give yourself some space now to be honest, like Teresa is, with Jesus, about what kind of friend are You?
One of my favourite writers, Jim Finley, I think he explains it so well when he writes that “Jesus never said He would protect us and keep us in a bubble so that we wouldn't feel life, and that we wouldn't be hurt or broken. But what He did promise is that He would always be with us. He would never leave us or forsake us.”
And so, we can feel these deep challenges and frustrations in our friendship with Jesus, and yet, return to His presence with us. Comforting us and continuing to provide and move us along on our roads.
We read further in our story, “Teresa also said that praying is like exploring a glass castle, hidden in our hearts. In the first room, we find humility. The second room is where we learn prayer. There's a room for thoughtfulness and one for silence. And then there's a room full of light. And after the light, we come to a room of dark night. And it might even seem like we've lost our way. But finally, once we pray through all the rooms, in the very centre of the castle, we meet God.”
So, Teresa was a wonderful writer, and one of her books that she wrote was entitled ‘The Interior Castle.’ And this castle is one of her greatest images of what it's like to be known by God and to get to know God. And she talks about this, that our soul is like a crystal castle.
And within this castle, there are seven mansions, or seven stages, where we move through different levels of prayer. And that the King of Glory resides in the centre of the soul. And the seventh mansion is where we are in full union, and attaining that full connection, that marital connection. And Teresa, in her writing, is able to describe each mansion or stage toward God. It's an adventure of the soul. It's an adventure into the interior of life. And most importantly, some of the themes that come out in these mansions is self-knowledge and humility, detachment and suffering. And I'm just going to give you a little generalisation of each one of these spaces that she describes, that we can journey inward too, for
ourselves.
So, mansion one, two, and three, if I can bring them together, are a lot about our spiritual efforts, like our prayer life and our Bible reading, learning from spiritual people, reading of books, and listening to sermons. Or, these three mansions are a lot about learning how to order your life to serve God well. It's all very good, these inner spaces that we're entering into.
And outside the mansion, sort of in the courtyard, she describes these venomous creatures that are outside the castle, and these poisonous reptiles, which sort of infest the area. And those are our sins, or the things that trip us up. And so, she describes in these mansions how they interact with us on a daily basis.
And then, as you move into the deeper mansions of four and five, this is when we get to experience God in more mystical ways that are not really done by our own effort, but by God's initiative. And this is when that beautiful image, that we read in the story, about the water and the stream, comes forward, and so I'll read that to you now. And she writes this in mansion four.
"'Prayer is like watering a garden,’ Teresa said. ‘At first, we have to draw water from a deep well by hand, and it's hard work, and it seems to take forever. Later, as we get to know God better, it's as if a stream springs up in our garden, and we don't have to strain to drag the water up from the dark pit of our hearts. Instead, it bubbles up in us. And finally, if we keep on in prayer, God Himself begins to pour rain on our garden, and it bursts into bloom with all kinds of fruits and flowers.’”
And so, this metaphor of the stream and the garden watering it is what she's describing happens as you go deeper into your interior life. That it seems to be a lot of work and effort to pray, and to be dedicated to it, but as you keep with that, more flows, and then you almost realise that you're just dwelling in the waters of God. So, she's describing what prayer can feel like, and how it can continue to evolve and grow within us.
And then, as we move into mansion six and seven, this is when the blessing of spiritual marriage and union occur. But she writes that it comes at a great cost. And that's when we go through some of our deepest suffering on earth. This is when there's a lot of surrendering and letting go, detaching. And yet, at the same time, this is when that falling rain comes, and we're just soaked in His love.
Just take this image, now, into your own heart. That your soul is like a castle, and that God lives there. And just think about, maybe, spending time with God, discovering more and more of who He is, in you.
And, I wonder, if you can reflect with me, what are the things that help you stay connected to God? And keep you in His love, and desiring to, continuing to read the Scriptures and pray, and seek out that guidance that you need.
You might even want to spend time noticing what those reptiles in your life might be like. She writes, in a humorous way, that sometimes these reptiles become our pets, and we bring them inside, and they start really living with us. And it's really difficult to learn how to break away, and move in and further into a life with God, without those. And so, maybe it's a good time to talk about your reptiles and these poisonous creatures that pull you away from the centre of the union with God, the centre of the castle.
Teresa is so rich with metaphor: Of the castle, of the garden that is watered, and of her deep desire to seek God in prayer, for her life. Many of us want to develop our vocations. Or we even make big attempts to travel far distances. Even to travel to the moon, as the human race has desired. But who desires to travel inward, to the inner soul? And that's what Teresa encourages us to give time to.
And so, as we close our prayer with Jesus and Teresa, here, I'm going to close with the same phrase, in the poem, that I started with.
So, let's just breathe in, together, in this space of quiet. And breathe out. “Let nothing disturb you, nothing distress you. While all things fade away, God is unchanging. Be patient, for with God in your heart, nothing is lacking. God is enough.” Friends, as you move in the rest of your day, just be reminded of the beautiful light that dwells inside you, the castle where Christ dwells. And that each hour, and each moment, you're invited to go deeper into that love, loving space, and to share the beauty of that light
with the world. Go in peace.
