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Day: One
Reference: Mansion I, Chapter I

Short Description by E. A. Peers
"Treats of the beauty and dignity of our souls; makes a comparison by the help of which this may be understood; describes the benefit which comes from understanding it and being aware of the favours which we receive from God; and shows how the door of this castle is prayer."

St. Teresa of Avila likens the human soul to that of a single diamond in where many rooms are found. This diamond is truly a prize to be cherished by the owner. We should polish this diamond that we may take delight in its perfection and God as well. But the soul of you or I is not so easily understood, nor God for that matter. How can we perfect what we do not understand? In scripture we learn that he or she who believes they possess wisdom has indeed lost all wisdom. Let us proceed with wisdom, knowing full well that we are not deceived by thinking ourselves to understand in fullness what cannot be fully grasped in our human intellects. As Teresa journeyed in the mystery, we too will journey in this retreat to find a glimmer of our souls, and see the beauty it possesses. We are made in the image and likeness of the One who created us, and therefore our very souls are a reflection of God. The beauty it beholds is not our own, but the reflection of God that is all beauty.

Why is it that in today’s age we tend to focus on our physical bodies rather than the soul? Yes, it is good to be mindful of our health and even responsible to care for the wonderful gift of our body, but what about the soul? Today we find ourselves running here and running there, always short of time. The bills need paying, the kids need to be picked-up, the dog has a veterinarian appointment, my homework is due, the car needs fixing, my boss is pressuring me to stay late, and on and on. If I live a good life, won’t God take care of me? Won’t God worry about my soul for me?

God loves each and every one of us, after all we are his creation. Through our very existence we are good, through God’s goodness, and he holds us every moment by actively loving us. In our journey, we may find it difficult at times to see the beauty of our soul and even more to see how it is that God helps us to see that beauty. Some of us possess additional gifts from God, and you may even know some people who have what seems a natural talent for music, math, friendliness, or any other quality that enhances the person beyond the ordinary. God does grant favours to those he loves, and he loves each and every soul. So, God helps us and gives to us something of a perfection that we may use or not use. God uniquely created us, it is no wonder we are a mystery to ourselves and our perfection seems beyond our very understanding. Yes, we can live well, but it is up to us to seek God. God is always seeking us through his sustaining love, now we must seek God through our love for him. And where, might you say, does this love for him come from? From our soul that is our very being. It is this love that unites us, and whether it is strong or weak, known or unknown, we are forever bound in love. Again, if we are created in the image and likeness of God, it makes a certain sense to see that we love ourselves and God. Why one turns away from loving God is really an obscuring of our own souls in relation to God.

How is it that we know and love God in the first place? There are a number of ways, and a fairly common way is that of creation. Remembering the beauty of the created soul, we can also see the beauty in each created substance. Looking at a seed and how it germinates, sprouts, grows, and blossoms, we see beauty at many levels. The complexity of the organic structure, the particular cosmic order that makes the flower possible, the transformation from old into new, or maybe simply the colors and shape and smell that results. Beauty can be found in all of creation, if we look close enough, if we suspend what we often take for granite. When did you last recognize the beauty in creation? The sweat smell of rain, the patter of the drops, the crackle and excitement of the lightening and thunder, it all is interwoven into the order that we do not understand, and yet the beauty is astounding if you take notice.

Now beauty is a joy and marvel, and we can see that God creates good things, but the beauty we behold in creation is not the end to which we seek. The beauty of creation comes from another, and it is the creator that we seek. Then we reach-out to God, and this is what Teresa found herself lacking at times, and she consciously worked towards being more attentive to God. Through mental prayer, and contemplation she reached-out to God. There is a certain humility in sincere prayer, and this humility is to know that we are created and sustained by another in love. Just as we see the order of the world around us, the beauty of creation, we can know that there is a power at work in the midst of it all. Our prayer should aim to be about love. Some will say that prayer is the voluntary awareness of God’s presence, but simply said it is conversation with God. We reach-out to God voluntarily because we humbly recognize that he is not only present to us, but knows us like no other.

The obscuring of the love we have for God usually is the result of us forgetting to reach-out to him. It isn’t usually a forceful turning away, but rather a slow and gradual deception of many other things drawing us away. We have the business of the world, and the temptations of worldly things to keep us occupied. It seems so easy to think that one could pray for fifteen minutes a day, but how hard can that become for the one who is distracted by the littlest of things.

St. Teresa once wrote, "A short time ago I was told by a very learned man that souls without prayer are like people whose bodies or limbs are paralysed [sic]: they possess feet and hands but they cannot control them. In the same way, there are souls so infirm and so accustomed to busying themselves with outside affairs that nothing can be done for them, and it seems as though they are incapable of entering within themselves."1

Yet, somehow God gives the grace to each of us to seek him. We all want to know the truth, and who would like to be the fool and only live in falsehood? By our very nature we are drawn to God, and though we do not see it initially, deep down we really want to know the source of all beauty, truth, and love. The mere fact that you are here reading of such things, says a lot what you seek. The object you seek may not be fully known, but yet you want to know. Each of us prays and relates to God differently, it is not static, rote, or an automatic process. We each journey towards God in greater or lesser ways, and this is much of what Teresa wrote about. Here in the beginning we can focus on a more distant and obscured love that some may have for God. Is this bad? Let us see what Teresa herself has said,

"Let us rather think of certain other souls, who do eventually enter the castle. These are very much absorbed in worldly affairs; but their desires are good; sometimes, though infrequently, they commend themselves to our Lord; and they think about the state of their souls, though not very carefully. Full of a thousand preoccupations as they are, they pray only a few times a month, and as a rule they are thinking all the time of their preoccupations, for they are very much attached to them, and, where their treasure is, there is their heart also. From time to time, however, they shake their minds free of them and it is a great thing that they should know themselves well enough to realize that they are not going the right way to reach the castle door. Eventually they enter the first rooms on the lowest floor, but so many reptiles get in with them that they are unable to appreciate the beauty of the castle or to find any peace within it. Still, they have done a good deal by entering at all."2