In the first two dwelling places she points out how we have an initial encounter with the transcendent that opens us to the divine reality. This leads to an eventual moral conversion that brings us to the third dwelling places. This is a location for most who are serious about the Christian calling.
In the third dwelling places we experience relief from the consuming struggle of the second dwelling places. There is a sense of having arrived at a very good place. We have a clear perception of progress against the forces of evil. Yet, the conflict of good and evil is never far from the surface.
The great temptation of the third dwelling places is a false sense of having arrived. Prevalent to a degree in each of the dwelling places this self-deception dominates in the third dwelling places.
In the third dwelling places real growth happens. The particular challenge of the new situation is to avoid self-deception. The struggle will continue but the inclination is to bask in the victory. God is not finished. God wants more. Opening up to this reality crystalizes the challenge of the third dwelling places.
We want to settle down. God wants the journey to move on with all due haste. Teresa is clear. There are seven dwelling places not three. The tension is between God inviting us to more and our sense of accomplishment that draws us to settle down. The drama of the third dwelling places transpires in the struggle to resolve this conflict.
It is no surprise that self-knowledge and its companion humility become critical for progress in this part of Teresa’s structure. The biggest difference between the third dwelling places and the two predecessors flows from the fact that our selfishness goes underground often taking on the guise of virtue. It hides behind good works and a multitude of good intentions. A major task of the third dwelling places is to identify this self-deception with a new level of self-knowledge and growing humility.
This spiritual growth comes from a virtuous life with emphasis on humility, detachment and charity along with faithfulness to regular prayer. This commitment needs to be over a long period of time. Teresa was in this struggle of the third dwelling places for almost two decades. However most of us fail to make the sacrifice and pay the price of not moving forward to the fourth dwelling places. There is usually a repeating pattern of progress and withdrawal.
Having arrived in the third dwelling places we have definitely made a decision to live a serious and responsible moral life. Our prayer grows in importance as it becomes deeper and more personal. Most often we are committed to a community of support. For Catholics, the participation in the liturgy and the life of the church is a staple of their way of life.
From a pastoral perspective, the vast majority of active parishioners are in the third dwelling places. Any realistic pastoral plan should include the encouragement and programs to move us to the fourth dwelling places.
Self-deception plays a major role in the third dwelling places. We learn slowly that selfishness has not been conquered by our great progress in leaving the second dwelling places.
We tend to create an image of God under our management. We begin to act as if we have a better plan than God. The temptation to water down the Jesus of the Gospels to a more comfortable model seldom is resisted.
Settling for less becomes the norm in the third dwelling places. God’s call for more is gentle but relentless. We want to sink roots, to create a world where we set the direction. Desire for control dominates. The instinct to avoid further struggle wants to dictate the program.
The combination of self-deception and the desire to be in control causes havoc. Harm to the family, parish and community flows from this blinding mentality. Much mischief is done “in the name of Jesus.” In particular, the destructive combination of self-deception and the desire to be in control lead to the isolation of “the other”, the person who is different because of race, ethnicity, financial condition, sexual orientation or numerous other categories of division. The human heart has a huge capacity to divide, isolate and exclude.
It is quite difficult to deal with such persons so wrapped in self-righteousness. We convince ourselves that we are the victims but in fact our selfish patterns hurt others. Teresa has one recommendation, compassion. Most often we are not ready for correction so we need to receive patience and kind acceptance.
The attitude of “my way or the highway” regularly operates in those of us in the third dwelling places. We do it in a religiously sophisticated style but the reality is the same. The tendency to rigidity towards new ideas and often new persons prevails. This is why many liturgy meetings or pastoral council sessions project a sense of life or death urgency. At times we see ourselves protecting the group from self-destruction. When this mentality is carried to an extreme one can find some truth in the common saying, “The difference between a liturgist and a terrorist is you can negotiate with a terrorist.”
Teresa has a saying that enlightens our understanding of the third dwelling places. She says that the residents share some of the burden of the young man who walked away from Jesus’ invitation. “When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad because he had many possessions.” (Mt 18:16-23)
“We all say that we want this good. But since there is need of still more in order that they should possess the Lord completely, it is not enough to say we want it, just as this was not enough for the young man who the Lord told what one must do in order to be perfect. From the time I began to speak of these dwelling places I have had this young man in mind. For we are literally like him….” (Interior Castle 3.1.6)
I believe we have a good insight into the third dwelling places when we reflect on the contrast between the young man who walked away and the disciples. They walked the road to Jerusalem in fear and confusion. The disciples had some heavy baggage. They had their dreams of power, privilege and prestige. Yet each day of their reluctant faithfulness to Jesus slowly destroyed their dreams and their control. Nevertheless, in the end they did not walk away. With great difficultythey eventually remained faithful. These options of life and death are the stuff of the third dwelling places.
When we decide we are going to resist the call to move on to the demanding consequences of the fourth dwelling places we pay a price. Most often, we are caught in the grip of self-righteousness. This is an ugly scene, the plague of most religious institutions. This happens when there is not enough love and we give in to human prudence. Only love will carry us ahead to the new life of contemplation in the fourth dwelling places.
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