Teresa of Ávila: Interior Recollection

Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. Lamentations 3:40

“May the Lord teach this to those of you who do not know it: for my own part I must confess that, until the Lord taught me this method, I never knew what it was to get satisfaction and comfort out of prayer, and it is because I have always gained such great benefits from this custom of interior recollection that I have written about it at such length. Perhaps you all know this, but some sister may come to you who will not know it, so you must not be vexed at my having spoken about it here.

I conclude by advising anyone who wishes to acquire it (since, as I say, it is in our power to do so) not to grow weary of trying to get used to the method which has been described, for it is equivalent to a gradual gaining of the mastery over herself and is not vain labour. To conquer oneself for one’s own good is to make use of the senses in the service of the interior life. If she is speaking she must try to remember that there is One within her to Whom she can speak; if she is listening, let her remember that she can listen to Him Who is nearer to her than anyone else.

Briefly, let her realize that, if she likes, she need never withdraw from this good companionship, and let her grieve when she has left her Father alone for so long though her need of Him is so sore. If she can, let her practise recollection many times daily; if not, let her do so occasionally. As she grows accustomed to it, she will feel its benefits, either sooner or later. Once the Lord has granted it to her, she would not exchange it for any treasure.”

Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) in The Way of Perfection (Grand Rapids: CCEL) 115

I am safely in São Paulo, Brazil, pictured above.

Travel gives me time for interior reflection. It includes activities like stepping back from earthly affairs which weigh me down and take all my energy and focus and examining myself and attending to the state of my soul with God.

It offers unfathomable treasure for those who give themselves to it.

I am a novice at this; my wife is a pro. If there were biblical characters to equate to this it might be Martha who tended toward distraction and Mary who focused with devotion. Notice how Teresa depicts interior reflection.

“To conquer oneself for one’s own good is to make use of the senses in the service of the interior life.”

God hears us and is present with us, closer than anyone. When I travel and sit in the quiet of my hotel room, it seems easier to practice. I pray, like Teresa suggests and as my wife demonstrates, that I can do it many times daily.

Today through Wednesday, I attend the Brazil Missions Congress 2022 where my ECFA Press books will be released in Portuguese. Pray for me to make many good connections.

Over this time when everyone will be speaking Portuguese around me (with the exception of a translator that will assist me at times) I am asking God to help me have times for interior reflection throughout each day.

Join me in this and point others this way. As we do, we will find it outweighs the greatest earthly treasures.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Psalm 22:1-2

“This is the first and principal benefit caused by this arid and dark night of contemplation: the knowledge of oneself and of one’s misery. For, besides the fact that all the favours which God grants to the soul are habitually granted to them enwrapped in this knowledge, these aridities and this emptiness of the faculties, compared with the abundance which the soul experienced aforetime and the difficulty which it finds in good works, make it recognize its own lowliness and misery, which in the time of its prosperity it was unable to see.”

John of the Cross (1542-1591) in Dark Night of the Soul, excerpt from Chapter XII “Of the benefits which this night causes in the soul” (New York: Image Books, 1959) 37.

Ever feel all alone or forsaken. You cry out to God but He remains silent, and you find no rest.

When we go through such experiences, described fittingly by John of the Cross as a dark night of the soul, we gain a benefit. We learn about ourselves and about our misery various things we cannot see in times of prosperity.

And if we pause and ponder we discover such times really are a gift.

Prior experiences of abundance cause us as humans to look for those to be repeated. God supplied in one way, so we expect that to happen again. When it doesn’t we experience difficulty to persevere in good works.

The saints of old teach us through their writings from the lessons they learned.

We too can benefit if we pay attention. Let us give thanks for our lowliness and God’s greatness. For our misery and His might. For our limitations and suffering and His abundance and faithfulness.

That Jesus recounted today’s Scripture on the cross tells us that we can cry it too on hard days.

Likely I will get little rest tonight, crammed in the back of a full plane from Houston to São Paulo, Brazil. And with back pain and with challenges in various areas of my life, I could be tempted to despair.

But I have discovered the benefit and want to share it with you: from one lowly, miserable soul to another.

I have no idea when God will answer you or me or when we will find rest, but I know this. We learn priceless lessons about our abundant and faithful God in the meantime if we pay attention.

These lessons become treasures to enjoy and share. Thanks for your prayers for safe and pain-free travel. Lord have mercy.

Sometime after this posts I will arrive in São Paulo, Brazil, to attend a big missions conference as the ECFA Press books, The Sower, The Choice, and The Council which I co-authored will be released in Portuguese. Praise the LORD!

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48

“The example which divine charity furnishes for our own, manifests still more the excellence of this virtue, although it is difficult for me to explain my perception of this excellence. When Christ Our Lord founded His most perfect law of love and grace, He exhorted us to be perfect imitators of our heavenly Father, who allows His sun to rise over the just and the unjust without distinction. Such doctrine and such an example only He Himself, the Son of the eternal Father, could give to men. Among all the visible creatures there is none like the sun to compare with divine charity and to show us how to imitate it; for this most noble star, from its very nature, without hesitation and entirely according to its own innate tendency, distributes its light in all directions, and without distinction to all who are capable of receiving it, and on its part never denies or suspends its benevolent activity. And this it does with out desiring acknowledgment, without imposing any obligation on any one, without asking for benefits or requiring any return, without finding in the objects of its enlightening bounty any previous goodness to move and draw it towards them. Nor does it expect any profit in the communication of its own blessed light, in which all participate and share.”

Mary of Ágreda (1602-1665) in The Mystical City of God (Hammond: Conkey, 1914) 399-400.

I am traveling from Denver to Houston to São Paulo, Brazil today and arriving tomorrow.

I will be in Brazil from 6-9 November 2022, then in Chile from 10-13 November 2022, then in Panama from 14-18 November 2022. Along the way I will share more about the the GTP program work in Latin America.

As I begin this journey, I read this amazing section from Mary of Ágreda who keenly describes the divine charity of Christ our Lord as the model for us using a creative word picture, namely, that of a noble star.

I want to highlight four aspects of this noble star for our own growth in generosity.

Firstly, it “distributes its light in all directions.” This teaches us that as our light shines and as people see our good works and glorify our father in heaven, the distribution of our generosity should likewise go in all directions.

Secondly, it flows “without distinction to all who are capable of receiving it.” This reminds us that we must be generous regard to both receptive and unreceptive souls. Some will receive it and some are simply not capable.

Thirdly, it “never denies or suspends its benevolent activity.” So, our generosity is not limited by the worthy or unworthiness of recipients. It flows perpetually from the abundance of God.

Fourthly, it shares “without asking for benefits or requiring any return.” This removes a leading hindrance to generosity as we as humans can often expect a return or a response to our giving.

Read the Scripture again, as well as this beautiful description of the divine charity of Christ our Lord and ask God to help you grow in any of these four areas where you may be lacking. He will do it by grace!

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2

“In the Middle Ages life itself imposed an unvarying rule of living. Is man now to live without a rule? A thousand moral and religious questions start up and cry out for an answer. Things have become possible now which were not possible before. Men and women can spend their lives in an unvarying round of amusements and excitements, even without supposing them to seek vicious pleasures. Theatres, operas, balls, novels—things unknown to their ancestors—may make up their life. Is this right? Is it safe? A most momentous question this, which requires an answer. Here is a new thing upon earth, or at least a state of things which has not existed since the Teutonic nations were converted—the upper classes of society able to live in a constant round of amusement, and thinking themselves satisfactorily sure of salvation, because of the hypothetical absence of great sin. Are unlimited balls and unlimited sacraments compatible? Or is a worldly life a perilous one for those who live it? Or rather ought not Christians to spend more time in prayer, in devotion, in voluntary almsgiving and works of charity, in proportion as they are set free from many duties? Is not life more dangerous and salvation more insecure because of this terrible invasion of the world, with audacious requirements and unblushing exigencies? Considering the cool impudence with which the world insists on his own innocence, nay, has even the impertinence to look upon its general mode of life as a duty to society, it does seem as if this new attitude of the world called for new rules and a greater strictness to counteract its dangers. Now, The Scale or Ladder of Perfection is valuable because it is an English book containing an answer to this question.”

Walter Hilton (1340-1396) in “An Essay on the Spiritual Life of Mediaeval England” as a preface to The Scale or Ladder of Perfection (Grand Rapids: CCEL) 31.

This excerpt from the preface to Hilton’s classic work marks not only a fresh find but contains wise counsel for us.

He’s writing this in the late 1300’s and it sounds like what someone might write in the present day. People fill their lives with “theatres, operas, balls, novels” and more and so life has become, in a word, worldly.

And I think wisdom is found in this key sentence in the latter portion of this post.

“Or rather ought not Christians to spend more time in prayer, in devotion, in voluntary almsgiving and works of charity, in proportion as they are set free from many duties?”

The more people obey God and flourish, the more he often blesses spiritually and materially. Should we keep the blessing to ascend to the upper classes and to “live in a constant round of amusement.” I think not.

Let’s actually aim higher. Let’s aim higher the squandering resources on senseless things that won’t satisfy.

Let’s focus together on prayer, devotion, voluntary almsgiving, and works of charity. That means trusting God to care for us and not ourselves, while devoting ourselves to obedience, caring, and sharing.

It’s counterintuitive, which is why most people miss this path. For greater insight, enjoy Hilton’s classic work.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7

“The Servant. Lord, Thou hast so entirely poured out the abyss of Thy divine love in Thy passion, that I wonder if Thou canst show any more signs of Thy love?

Eternal Wisdom. Yes. Even as the stars of heaven are countless, so the love-tokens of My unfathomable love are uncounted.

The Servant. Ah, sweet Love of mine! Ah, tender Lord elect! How my soul languishes for Thy love! Turn Thy mild countenance towards me, outcast creature that I am; see how everything vanishes and passes away in me except only the one treasure of Thy ardent love, and therefore tell me something further of this rich and hidden treasure.”

Henry Suso (1295-1366) in “How We Ought To Lovingly Receive God” Chapter XXIII of Blessed Henry Suso’s Little Book of Eternal Wisdom (Boston: Noonan, 1887) 160-161.

What is the treasure we possess in jars of clay? It’s the love of God.

Suso eloquently notes in this classic work which sketches the interchange between The Servant and Eternal Wisdom that “even as the stars of heaven are countless, so the love-tokens of My unfathomable love are uncounted.”

What a beautiful word picture. Soak in that for a while!

Notice that everything else vanishes next to the treasure of God’s love. All else is fleeting and temporary. Ask yourself if you rank among those who do as most people do, which is pursue earthly riches rather than eternal love-tokens.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

“It seems to me, my daughter, that everything passes so quickly that we should be thinking more about how to die than how to live.”

Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) in The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Vol. 2, featuring The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle (ICS, 1980).

For years, my mentor, Dan Busby, taught me how to live. I just said to someone recently that he also taught me how to die because he was thinking about how to die. He asked me pointedly to officiate his memorial service along with two other trusted brothers.

In short, he wanted the service to be online, as he said many of his non-believing friends would never set foot in a church. He wanted a simple recounting of his life and faith and gave me one charge: to point people to Jesus.

He even scripted me. He wanted me to share a quote from Mallie Robinson: “Take one step towards God and He will take two steps toward you.” He wanted his legacy to point people to Jesus. He said to trust God to sort the rest.

Life goes fast. In a blink it’s gone. So, our focus must be to prepare for eternity and to help others make it there. How will you die? It’s not a morbid question. It may be the most important and generous one you ever ponder.

“Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” Psalm 50:14-15

“He who created nature sustains it; nature is so constituted that its Maker is its Protector for ever. Without Him nature could not have begun to be; without Him it could not subsist at all. That we might not be ignorant of this, or vainly attribute to ourselves the beneficence of our Creator, God has determined in the depths of His wise counsel that we should be subject to tribulations. So when man’s strength fails and God comes to his aid, it is meet and right that man, rescued by God’s hand, should glorify Him, as it is written, ‘Call upon Me in the time of trouble; so will I hear thee, and thou shalt praise Me’ (Ps. 50.15). In such wise man, animal and carnal by nature, and loving only himself, begins to love God by reason of that very self-love; since he learns that in God he can accomplish all things that are good, and that without God he can do nothing.”

Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), excerpt from Chapter Eight in his classic work: On Loving God.

Have you experienced times of plenty as well as lean times?

In times or plenty we must remain thankful, and in lean times we must not fear or worry. We must follow the example of the psalmist and sacrifice thank offerings while fulfilling our vows. That means we do our part and trust God to be our Protector and Sustainer.

I feel like I experiencing such times right now.

I am praying for God’s provision for GTP. We have hired new staff with dedicated funding but lacking supply for our core operations. I thank God for His faithful provision over more than 3.5 years and pray He will continue to supply through His people. Click here to give.

For my part, I am mapping my faithful work this week related to this and trusting God.

If you serve in a leadership position of a ministry, you can probably relate to this. I pray today’s post encourages you to remain faithful in your work while trusting God in your real time of need. May He deliver and sustain us and be the object of our praise, both in times of plenty and lean times.

And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 1 Thessalonians 5:14

“You have placed me in charge of souls, assigning to me so many beloved sons, that I should love them with singular love and direct them to You by the way of Life, but I have been to them nothing but a mirror of human weakness; I have had no care of them; I have not helped them with continuous and humble prayer in Your presence, nor have I given them sufficient examples of the good life or the warnings of salutary doctrine. Oh, mean creature that I am! With how little reverence have I received Your innumerable gifts, the graces of such sweet torments and labors which it pleased You to accumulate on this fragile body, nor have I endured them with that burning desire and ardent love with which You sent them to me…For the love of Christ crucified, absolve me of all these sins which I have confessed in the presence of God, and of all the others which I cannot remember.”

Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) in The Dialogue of Catherine of Siena (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co, 1907) 139.

I came upon the last words of Catherine and found a keen insight for my own journey of generosity.

She acknowledges herself as a mirror of human weakness who has received innumerable gifts from God. Perhaps you can relate? I know I can. You’ve been blessed so much, even given the charge of many souls, but you feel in the end you’ve done a mediocre job at best to form them.

She reveals a secret here, namely, what she wishes she had done differently.

She says that she wishes she would have helped them with continuous and humble prayer, examples of the good life, and warnings of salutary doctrine. It causes me to ponder the role of prayer, example, and teaching in my own care of souls as GTP has grow to have ten total staff.

Consider what stirs within you in the care of souls God has entrusted to you.

God forgive our human weakness despite your love and gifts. May our care of souls be nurtured by continuous and humble prayer, by sufficient examples of the good life, and with warnings of healthy doctrine so those we serve know how to live. Hear our prayer in your mercy in the name of Jesus. Amen.

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Luke 6:45

“Whoever has this knowledge, let him lament and weep with me. For the chosen children of God frequently take God’s body, receiving it in a holy manner. But I have to go to my chapter room accompanied by my burning conscience.

Then my unworthiness comes and chides me. Then my indolence comes and accuses me. Then the frivolousness of my personality comes and points out my capriciousness to me. Then the wretchedness of my useless life comes and saddens me. Then fear of God comes and scourges me.

Then I crawl forward like a tiny worm on the ground and hide myself under the grass of my many various omissions all my days. There I sit and cry to heaven: “O merciful God, grant me that I might today share in the grace that your chosen ones have now received.”

Thereupon our Lord replied: “Take two golden pennies that weigh the same and go shopping with them. If they are of equal value, they are equally good.”

“Alas, dear Lord, how can my wretchedness be equal to your goodness? For I am not the person who could well offer you honor. I have nothing that is suitable for you, and for consolation my soul clings to worthless nothings in the world. And so I am rejected, alas, corrupt. I am not at all what I have long desired to be.”

Our Lord said, “With good will and holy desire you can make good whatever you want.”

Mechthild of Magdeburg (1207-1282) in Mechthild of Magdeburg: The Flowing Light of the Godhead (Classics of Western Spirituality; Paulist Press: Mahwah, 1998) 280.

We can bring good out of our hearts, we can exhibit generosity, because of God’s work in us. Because we share in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Most of us, however, know how unworthy, indolent, frivolous, and wretched we are, so we think we can’t play a part in the work of God around us.

We crawl along like a worm. Notice what Mechthild says at that point. That God sees us and wants us to take the two gold pennies he gives us and go shopping with them.

That means that even though we may feel we have little, we can do good things with them. What do you have? What can you do with what you have to spread God’s goodness?

“With good will and holy desire you can make good whatever you want.” This is true because, as Jesus put it, a good person really can bring good things out of the good stored up in his or her heart.

Even if you only have two pennies, and you have been corrupt and not what you have long desired to be, you can do a lot of good. Go do it.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

“And after this He shewed a sovereign ghostly pleasance in my soul. I was fulfilled with the everlasting sureness, mightily sustained without any painful dread. This feeling was so glad and so ghostly that I was in all peace and in rest, that there was nothing in earth that should have grieved me.

This lasted but a while, and I was turned and left to myself in heaviness, and weariness of my life, and irksomeness of myself, that scarcely I could have patience to live. There was no comfort nor none ease to me but faith, hope, and charity; and these I had in truth, but little in feeling.

And anon after this our blessed Lord gave me again the comfort and the rest in soul, in satisfying and sureness so blissful and so mighty that no dread, no sorrow, no pain bodily that might be suffered should have distressed me. And then the pain shewed again to my feeling, and then the joy and the pleasing, and now that one, and now that other, diverse times—I suppose about twenty times. And in the time of joy I might have said with Saint Paul: Nothing shall dispart me from the charity of Christ; and in the pain I might have said with Peter: Lord, save me: I perish!

This vision was shewed me, according to mine understanding, [for] that it is speedful to some souls to feel on this wise: sometime to be in comfort, and sometime to fail and to be left to themselves. God willeth that we know that He keepeth us even alike secure in woe and in weal. And for profit of man’s soul, a man is sometime left to himself; although sin is not always the cause: for in this time I sinned not wherefore I should be left to myself—for it was so sudden. Also I deserved not to have this blessed feeling. But freely our Lord giveth when He will; and suffereth us [to be] in woe sometime. And both is one love.

For it is God’s will that we hold us in comfort with all our might: for bliss is lasting without end, and pain is passing and shall be brought to nought for them that shall be saved. And therefore it is not God’s will that we follow the feelings of pain in sorrow and mourning for them, but that we suddenly pass over, and hold us in endless enjoyment.”

Julian of Norwich (1343-1416) in Revelations of Divine Love (Grand Rapids: CCEL) Seventh Revelation, Chapter 15, Page 18.

While this is a long post and articulated in ancient English, there’s beautiful modern application that links to today’s Scripture. And it’s fitting to post this today, on my mom’s birthday. She loves this Scripture and exhibits the ghostly pleasance in her soul in both woe and weal, hard times and good ones. Happy Birthday mom!

Notice what Julian speaks about. She says it must have happened 20 times. Perhaps you can relate? She experienced perfect peace and then left to herself, she had heaviness and weariness nearly sweep her away. I know I experience this sometimes! And then she reports that she found endless enjoyment when focused on God.

What’s the lesson for those of us who want to exhibit generosity in woe and weal, hard times and good ones? We must remain focused on God, give Him our cares in prayer, so that we experience incomprehensible peace. That’s what the world needs most. Our generosity comes into view as showning them how to grasp the endless enjoyment their heart seeks.

God help us all with this. Lest we experience heaviness and weariness 20 times a day. As our faith grows, it seems like our challenges grow too and tempt us to worry or fear. We want the ghostly pleasance in our soul all the time. Thank you that we can trust you with everything and rest in your peace. Hear our prayer in Jesus name. Amen.