Thursday, November 10, 2011

Christ speaks with teresa in the interior castle

Christ: Why are you troubled, child? Nada te turbe. Let nothing disturb you.

Daughter: He hurt me.

Christ: That is why I died. By my wounds you are healed. Look:

Do you see that little girl over there?

Daughter: Yes.

Christ: How old do you think she is?

Daughter: I suppose four.

Christ: Yes. Now look at her.

Daughter: She is playing and singing.

Christ: Yes. She loves to sing, even though she forgets the tune at times. No matter, let nothing disturb you. And look around you:

Where are you now?

Daughter: Deep inside a castle.

Christ: Not just any castle. Your castle. I went ahead of you and prepared this place for you. It is yours.

Daughter: And yours.

Christ: That’s right. I live here with you.

Daughter: Don’t go.

Christ: Don’t worry, I won’t. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Let nothing disturb you.

(Christ walks to another room of the castle, hoping Daughter will follow him there. She does not follow Christ there because she is afraid of that room. She has never been there before, though it was her room all the time. She is afraid he is going to show her something frightening. Daughter begins crying. Christ comes near her once again.)

Christ: Why are you crying?

Daughter: You left me here.

Christ: I did not leave you. I was here all the time in your special castle. Look:

What is that you are wearing?

Daughter: Clothes. Just clothes.

Christ: Those are not “just clothes.” I made those for you. They are royal. What is that gracing your head?

Daughter: A crown.

Christ: That’s right. A mark of royalty. Do you see my crown?

Daughter: It is not very shiny.

Christ: That’s right. I traded my old crown for this one so you could be crowned with beauty instead of ashes. You were made for beauty; you are my princess, my daughter.

Daughter: But, don’t you miss your other crown?

Christ: No, never. Because by giving it away I bought you and you are more precious and dear to me than any crown.

Daughter: But then, why do you still wear your crown of thorns?

Christ: Because it reminds me that I have you and it reminds you that you have me.

(Daughter’s tears abate now.)

Christ: Si, nada te turbe. Let nothing disturb you.

(Christ sits awhile with Daughter. After some time, he sings a song of serendipity with her because she feels like playing with her Daddy for awhile. They share a meal together that he has prepared: lamb, wine, bread, bitter herbs followed by apples with nuts. He rises from the table and says, “Follow me.” She does. He takes her to a room she has never entered before. It is a beautiful place. She can barely believe such beauty could ever be real.)

Daughter: How did you do this?

Christ: Not out of nothing. When I made the world and everything in it, I used nothing. But this, this surpasses what can be made from nothing.

Daughter: I do not understand.

Christ: Do you suppose that what has been made is greater than that which has been remade?

Daughter: I suppose not. I have never thought about it before.

Christ: I have. Remakings always surpass first makings. That is the wonder of redemption.

Daughter: But, if this beauty has been remade, from what was it made?

Christ: You. Your hopes and fears have been redeemed. Your wounds have been healed. Look:

I turned your darkness into light,
Your day used to be night,
But no more.

Daughter: But how could you take such horrible things and make this?

Christ: My patient endurance attains to all things. I never gave up because I knew something beautiful can always be made from torn veils. Now, look:

Daughter: A window.

Christ: Yes. I want others to see this beauty inside you. The truth is I have shown them this beauty long before you ever came in this room. You are the last to see it but no matter:

You see this beauty now, you see me here with you now, I have you here now and

Whom God possesses in nothing is wanting,
Alone God suffices.

So, let nothing disturb you.

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