I am feeling that fullness I often experience before I begin to write, and I am writing a great deal with paper and pen, but nothing ready for this forum yet. I am eager for your conversation again, and am checking in with Gabrielle, who is doing a wonderful synopsis of the Teresian Mansions. Tempted here to share my Seven Sonnets through the Dark, as she is discussing the Dark Night over there. For now, I ask your prayers as I finish some projects and complete my Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. Meanwhile, this:
The test of fidelity
(every love affair has them, of course)
is not in the fire,
nor in the peace;
not in the most visible things,
nor the most obvious.
The test of fidelity
(and faithfulness is the first principle, of course)
is in the tilt of the heart’s valves,
the delicate pathways of the brain,
what glances eyes are allowed to steal,
the secret strengths and hidden weakness.
The test of fidelity
(without questions, we fail before we begin, of course)
is in what we do in secret,
what we keep from human eyes.
Yes, this is where the Beloved’s light penetrates –
this is where we must be free.
The test is in the darkness –
it is temptation overcome
that betrothes us at last.
The test of fidelity
(every love affair has them, of course)
is not in the fire,
nor in the peace;
not in the most visible things,
nor the most obvious.
The test of fidelity
(and faithfulness is the first principle, of course)
is in the tilt of the heart’s valves,
the delicate pathways of the brain,
what glances eyes are allowed to steal,
the secret strengths and hidden weakness.
The test of fidelity
(without questions, we fail before we begin, of course)
is in what we do in secret,
what we keep from human eyes.
Yes, this is where the Beloved’s light penetrates –
this is where we must be free.
The test is in the darkness –
it is temptation overcome
that betrothes us at last.
posted by KathrynTherese at 8:05 PM
4 Comments:
Beautiful. :-)
This is lovely, kt. The role of the heart, brain and eyes in all of this reminds me very much of lessons we are taught by the Desert Fathers. The significance of overcoming temptation as a test of fidelity is so important. Of course, we shouldn't put ourselves in situations of near-occasions-of-sin in order to test ourselves; we get enough in life to deal with as it is. But the value of temptation is real. As St. Teresa says, without temptation, "The soul, too, would not gain so much, for it would be deprived of all occasions of merit..."
But I think it's okay to give in to some of them, like being "tempted" to share your verses on the Dark Night...
And we are "tempted" to read and re-read them... :-)
Well, I will post them, if you insist. It may make this a good "sister site" to Contemplative Haven during the Dark Night discussion.
But I'm warning you that they are rather densely packed. Then again, Abbot Joseph had no trouble taking one of them apart on his blog, so they're not impenetrable...
Post a Comment
<< Home