I became more aware of this passage after coming across it in “The Interior Castle”. The book pays particular attention to verse 3 “and your life is hidden with Christ in God” – and Teresa has painted yet another wonderful image of this hiding (and revealing) through the silk worm;
The silk worm symbolizes the soul which begins it live when, kindled by the Holy Spirit….
Then it comes to life and continues nourishing itself on this food and on devout meditation until it has attained full vigour….
….it begins to spin silk to build the house wherein it must die. By this house when, speaking of the soul, I mean Christ. This shows how much, by God’s grace, we can do, by preparing this home for ourselves, towards making Him our dwelling-place as He is the prayer of union….
Forward then, hasten over your work and build the little cocoon. Let us renounce self-love and self-will, care for nothing earthly, do penance, pray, mortify ourselves, be obedient, and perform all the other good works of which you know. Act up to your light; you have been taught your duties. Die! Die as the silkworm does when it has fulfilled the office of is creation, and you will see God and be immersed in His greatness, as the little silkworm is enveloped in its cocoon. Understand that when I say “you will see God”, I mean in the manner described, in which He manifests Himself in this kind of union.
What an amazing description! I love the symbolism found in us being little butterflies – all of a sudden, earthly things mean nothing to it – it can fly! It rejoices in a newfound freedom through an amazing transformation.
Through putting effort into nourishing our souls and seeking to what is above, God further lavishes us with the riches of His grace.
I have been following God through Jesus for half my life now and I can’t keep thinking that there is so much more God wishes to reveal to me about Himself and the of the extraordinary authority He hands us to co-rule His kingdom.
2 comments:
Not having read the book i won't comment too strongly but I do shy away from the understanding of the soul being the part of us that god is interested in and not the whole of our being. The soul being eternal and and just inhabiting our earthly bodies is a greek pagan idea that infested the church many centuries ago and is quite foreign to the hebrew understanding. I wholly agree that the inner life is to be cultivated but if we try to somehow seperate this from our whole life it has no meaning.
Cheers
Nigel
PS finished Velvet Elvis, brilliant read.
Yes - I whole heartedly agree! The very fact that God became flesh in order to convert our whole "being" to Him speaks volumes. He IS interested in everything and still remains as a whole human with the Father! Glad you enjoyed Elvis. Have a great week Nige.
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