Meditation centers our mind. If Christian meditation is new or elusive to you, here are three suggestions to get you started. This can be done in 15 minutes a day. Breathing: Close your eyes and breathe through your nose and…
Blog Archives
Prayer and Meditation Simplified
Tagged with: 500, Ascetic Prayer, Breathing, Breathing Meditation, Christian formation, Christian Mysticism, Christianity, Dave Small, Dave_Small, Interior Castle, Lord's Prayer, Luke 11.1-4, Mystical Prayer, Our Father, Prayer and Meditation, Silence, Spain, spiritual formation, St John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Teresa of Avila Turns 500, The Interior Castle, Theresa of Avila, Vanderbilt Divinity Library;
Posted in Revised Posts
Posted in Revised Posts
Preoccupations
A healthy spirituality expands instead of contracts our worldview. I wrote this short story a number of years ago about an early experience I had with Christian fundamentalism. Full of a thousand preoccupations as they are, they pray only a…
Tagged with: 500, Christian formation, Christian Mysticism, Christianity, Dave Small, Dave_Small, Distractions, Interior Castle, Jimmy Jazz, London Calling, Reptiles, Rock Music, Spain, spiritual formation, St John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Teresa of Avila Turns 500, The Clash, The Interior Castle, Theresa of Avila, Theresa of Avila Turns 500
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted in Uncategorized
Intellectual Vision: Part Five
To authenticate the Intellectual Vision, Teresa tells us to look at the effects of the vision in our life. If these effects are not present, we should be suspect about the source of the vision. These effects include: Certainty about the…
Tagged with: 500, Authenticating Mystical Prayer Experiences, Authenticating Visions, Authentication of Mystical Experiences, Christian formation, Christian Mysticism, Christianity, confession, Confessor, Dave Small, Dave_Small, Divine Favors, Gossip, Hearing God, Humility, Interior Castle, Love, Mystical Prayer, Prayer and Meditation, Sixth Dwelling Places, Sixth Mansions, Spain, Spiritual Direction, Spiritual Director, Spiritual Favors, spiritual formation, Spiritual Guidance, Spiritual Guide, Spiritual Warfare, St John of the Cross, Supernatural Prayer, Teresa of Avila, Teresa of Avila Turns 500, The Devil, The Interior Castle, Theresa of Avila, Theresa of Avila Turns 500
Posted in 6th Mansions - Chapter 8
Posted in 6th Mansions - Chapter 8
Something’s Always Wrong in Paradise
It’s important to break from the heretical idea that the spiritual life is going to be all “favors and consolations”. Teresa of Avila says some have enjoyed spiritual “favors and consolations . . . and think it would be a…
Tagged with: 500, Christian formation, Christian Mysticism, Christianity, Dave Small, Dave_Small, Divine Favors, Hearing God, Humility, Interior Castle, Love, Mystical Prayer, Perseverance, Prayer and Meditation, Sin, Sixth Dwelling Places, Sixth Mansions, Sixth Mansions of the Interior Castle, Spain, Spiritual Direction, Spiritual Favors, spiritual formation, Spiritual Guidance, St John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Teresa of Avila Turns 500, The Interior Castle, Theresa of Avila, Theresa of Avila Turns 500
Posted in 6th Mansions - Chapter 7
Posted in 6th Mansions - Chapter 7
Attentiveness
Interior Castle: Sixth Mansions: Chapter Six We’ve moved deep into the Interior Castle, but have not yet reached the Seventh Mansions “where in a wonderful way the soul never ceases to walk with Christ our Lord but is ever in…
Tagged with: 500, Augustine, Augustine - Confessions, Beauty and Dignity of our Souls, Christian formation, Christian Mysticism, Christianity, Dave Small, Dave_Small, Divine Favors, Humanity of Christ, Interior Castle, Love, Love your neighbor, Meditation, Mystical Prayer, Poetry, Prayer and Meditation, Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, Spain, spiritual formation, St John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Teresa of Avila Turns 500, The Interior Castle, Theresa of Avila, Theresa of Avila Turns 500
Posted in 3rd Mansions - Chapter 1
Posted in 3rd Mansions - Chapter 1
 | Dave Small on In the Bleak Midwinter —… |
 | Larry T on In the Bleak Midwinter —… |
| Larry T on In the Bleak Midwinter —… |
| Dave Small on The Most Christian Person I… |
 | Brian on The Most Christian Person I… |
Teresa of Avila Turns 500 