Teresa of Avila and Me: A Wise Woman from the 15th Century Advises an Everyday Woman from the 21st Century

I always hope to gain wisdom from women such as Teresa of Avila. People keep asking me if I'm going to become a Catholic. No, I'm not. God and I talked about it and the answer was no. :-) My dogs are in my backyard barking. Barking. And wait a moment is there quie…. no, more woofs and high pitched Beth barking.

A neighbor on one side is working on his rental property so I can hopefully have some nice new neighbors and on the other side, new air conditioning is being installed. I never saw a crane, so I am not sure if they’ve actually brought the big machine in or not.

All I want to do is install some interesting words on my blog, please and thank you.

The incessant barking and oh yes, I’ve also been prepping Emma’s room for new furniture. This means emptying the room of everything and vacuuming the carpet and mopping the wood floor. This definitely interferes with my plans.

These things aren’t supposed to bother me. How could I forget?

I am supposed to sit here and tap tap tap away, saintly, like Teresa of Avila kneeling next to the three legged stool in her convent tiny room as she scribed the words of God. She was in pain but she just kept writing.

“Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything.”

“Love turns work into rest.”

“God withholds Himself from no one who perseveres.”

Oh, to be more like Teresa of Avila. I suppose the least I can do is to continue persevering.

I read the words of Simone Weil earlier this morning. She wrote this:

“Affliction is a marvel of divine technique. It is a simple and ingenious device to introduce into the soul of a finite creature that immensity of force, blind, brutal, and cold.”

Is not being able to write with too much noise and affliction of that level? I think I may be exaggerating. Now my brain is fighting an inner dialog about the pain of not being able to create and the desire to use divine gifts in my everyday life and on and on and on.

Teresa knocks on my right shoulder and whispers into my ear, “To have courage for whatever comes in life – everything lies in that” I feel a smile cross my face. “Trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be,” she continues. I feel my shoulders relax.

The dogs are still barking and my fingers continue to move across the page. The furniture delivery truck will be here in an hour. I feel blessed, blessed, blessed or am at least on my way there.

What is as important to me, though, is that you are able to step into the same relaxation I am in right now.

Read those words from Teresa of Avila to me. They are to you, too.

Blessings: rain gently.

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Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at First Friday each month in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

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