October 29, 2009
Interior Castle, part 6
We’ve come to the sixth level of our castle/tower. At this point, according to Teresa, the soul is tightly bound to Christ. It has chosen to be united with Christ, to become one with the betrothed. However, there is still a period of betrothal that must be endured. According to Teresa it is certainly a matter of endurance. Most of her descriptions of this area of spirituality deal with the suffering and pain that come from the trials as the soul gets closer to Christ. However, again, Teresa links this suffering to a righteousness, coming from being so closely aligned with Christ. She states:
…because so delectable a pain can never be bestowed upon the soul by the devil: he can give pleasures and delights which seem to be spiritual, but it is beyond his power to unite pain — and such a great pain! — with tranquility and joy in the soul; for all his powers are in the external sphere, and, when he causes pain, it is never, to my mind, delectable or peaceful, but restless and combative.
So the sufferings that are endured in this arena are those that also bring joy and peace in Christ. They’re not trials that come from the devil, but are experiences that temper and mature the soul for it’s journey to marriage with Christ.
To reflect on this for myself, I have to say I have a hard time with the ideas that Teresa is trying to get at here. She seems to be presenting a path of prayer that brings the soul closer to Christ, and in doing so we engage so fully in the suffering of Christ that we begin to experience His suffering in our life, physically. Although I can see how people who are delving deeply into the mystical paths of prayer that this might be something they experience, but I’m to the point where I think Teresa has left the common man. Perhaps we all have the ability to engage Christ as deeply as she’s presented here, but I don’t think it’s very common or usual in the life of the modern believer.
So what can we learn from this, despite the feeling that it’s beyond where most of us will be? What I take from this is more insight into the nature and place of salvific suffering. The idea of being bound to Christ’s suffering, no matter our place and time in life. Experiencing the suffering of Christ isn’t something that is easy to do, and I confess as to not fully understanding how Teresa’s explaining how we experience it. But, to experience that which Christ took on himself for our sake is certainly a noble pursuit in whatever way of our life that we can seek it.
Written and posted by Jamison on October 29, 2009, 1:04 pm.
Filed under: General Discussion
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