Part Two
At this time of progress in prayer, the devil becomes more active. He makes the good old times of worldly pleasures and indulgence seem better than ever. On the other hand, the experience of our sense of mortality exposes the vanity of so much of the heart’s yearning. In this conflict, so representative of the second dwelling places, the heart cries out, “Not yet Lord, a little later!” The battle is on. This is the clear expression of the heart’s ambiguity in the second dwelling places. A resounding “Yes!” is followed by a more resounding, “Perhaps a little later, Lord!”(In the second dwelling places it becomes clear that Teresa is not primarily interested in offering a method of prayer. Her goal is to describe the individual’s growing awareness of the experience of God. She is describing the journey to the center where God awaits. Prayer is the way forward that demands letting go of our selfishness.)
Teresa observes, “But O my God, how the whole world’s habit of getting involved in vanities vitiates everything!” (IC 2.5)
In this great struggle of the second dwelling places, the basic human brokenness is exposed: sin and grace, weeds and wheat, light and darkness. Mark’s words in 7:21-22 describe the dark side: “Evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, idolatry, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.” Paul’s words in Galatians 5:22 portray the way of light: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
In this grand battle of light and darkness that emerges in the second dwelling places, Teresa says there is no greater weapon than the cross. (IC.2.6) The Carmelite mystic means that we need to keep our eyes on the crucified Christ. We need to measure the passionate and boundless love of Calvary against our pettiness and resistance to this love. Our life, in constant pursuit of comfort, stands in harsh contrast to Jesus on the cross.
Here again, this leads Teresa to emphasize self-knowledge in relation to this great love revealed in our merciful Savior.
“Well now, it is foolish to think that we will enter into heaven without entering into ourselves, coming to know ourselves, reflecting on our misery and what we owe God and begging him often for mercy.” (IC 2.11)
Teresa stresses that our prayer at this early stage must avoid selfishness. We need not look for consolations. The focus must be doing God’s will. This is what authentic prayer demands.
“Don’t think in what concerns perfection there is some mystery of things unknown, or still to be understood, for in perfect conformity to God’s will lies all our good.” (IC 2.8)
God has a plan for us. It is God’s will for our happiness. It is better than any of the countless plans we create in seeking happiness. God’s plan, that is God’s will, is an invitation into love that opens to total freedom and joy forever. Teresa never tires of pointing out that all else is absolutely inconsequential outside of God’s will that calls us to love and life everlasting.
In response to the struggles that dominate the second dwelling places, Teresa’s continual refrain is perseverance. “Nor should you become disconsolate if you don’t respond at once to the Lord. His Majesty knows well how to wait many days and years, especially when he sees perseverance and good desires. This perseverance is most necessary here. One always gains much through perseverance.” (IC 2.3)
This perseverance leads to moral conversion. The attachments and addictions of an unrestrained lifestyle demand attention. The passage to freedom requires the choice of true values over personal satisfaction. Patterns of a lifetime need to give way in this personal upheaval that is conversion. Prayer and service open the way for God’s grace. Bad friends have to go and wise counselors need to be pursued. In the commitment to these changes, the person achieves a sense of moral stability that is the fruit of perseverance. Without this basic choice of goodness over evil, grace over sin, the only movement is backward to the chaos outside the castle. This choice of God over the creature is the way forward to the third dwelling places.
The story of the prodigal son offers a final insight into the experience of the second dwelling places. The son learned the hard way that a life of unrestrained pleasure ends in the desperation of “feeding the pigs.” He came up empty. He finally saw the total futility of his choice of the good life. This often is the experience of the second dwelling places.
The impoverished son develops a narrative for the long suffering father. He will accept his fault and become a servant. He is a gambling on the mercy or naiveté of the father. He miscalculated again, just as in his departure to the big city. He failed to see the magnitude of the father’s love and mercy. This awakening is also characteristic of the second dwelling places.
This message of divine mercy and love grows in clarity and beauty in each of the succeeding dwelling places in The Interior Castle.
