Friday, November 13, 2009

st terese of Avila


the important thing is not to think much but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love


i have recently been thrown into a world of saints and sinners, love and redemption, history and herstory...


and one of the threads that have been given to me, that i am beginning to weave with is that of this Spanish nun.


Turns out she was outspoken, stroppy, difficult, visionary, and confounding... and she said things, like the quote above which just make my heart sing....


apparently she used to levitate (but disliked the showiness of it so got other nuns to sit on her)


she challenged the male dominated church


saw past the divisions that gender created in her day


and believed in the power of love


and the gift of love that she has given me with this statement is profound


i know when i paint and make jewellery i am filled with fire


i know that when i come back into my daily life, from this time i am calmer, more balanced, more able to give...but justifying that to my strong training as a martyr is difficult...


i hear echos of selfish and thoughtless and.....


but when i listen to St Terese i hear her nodding at my heart and telling me the fire is right...


just listen to love - and then act....

3 comments:

  1. the fire is right.

    i like that part a lot.
    just listen to love and then act....

    i'm gettin' stuck on how to act and not hurt me. maybe i'm not listening enough....

    thanks for this.....

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  2. you have so much fire Terri...maybe the listening is to the voice that is the most loving to you....you deserve that so deeply

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  3. I remember being inspired by this wonderful woman when I first heard about her, faerian.
    Thanks for bringing me to that recollection.
    I know that love is the answer.
    The answer to all ills.

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