A Christian living in this world

I was introduced this week to the works of St. Teresa of Avila, particularly her "The Interior Castle," which is a portrayal of the "seven mansions" of the soul's spiritual growth. For her spiritual growth was a process and I completely agree. And like St. Teresa, I've experienced these "mansions" within my spirit moving among them, in and out, like the wavering seas. That, however, is not God's intention. His intention is that we fall so in love with Him that we become unwavering spirits filled with His truth.

To often today we fall prey to what Teresa herself experienced and explained in her autobiography in 16th century.

"On the one hand God was calling me. On the other, I was following the world. All the things of God gave me pleasure, yet I was tied and bound to those of the world. It seemed as if I wanted to reconcile these two contradictory things...the life of the spirit and the pleasures and joys and pastimes of the senses...I spent nearly twenty years on that stormy sea, often falling in this way and each time rising again, but to little purpose as I would only fall once more."

For St. Teresa prayer was the key to entering and remaining in these "mansions" she described. With each level our prayer life becomes deeper and more focused on the things of God. To me, these mansions are about levels of discipleship, prayer as well, but with each level comes a bigger heart for the things of God and for learning more about Him. Each level is characterized by our level of outward expression of the inward gift of love that Christ has given us.