2014 Lenten Devotional

March 7, 2014

By Ginny George

“From silly devotions and from sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us”

That is one of my favorite quotes from Teresa of Avila, a 16th century Spanish mystic philosopher, Carmelite nun and theologian.  Each time I come across it in our hymnal (#336) it puts a smile on my face; but it also perplexes me a bit.  My first reaction is to imagine Teresa as a sort of Maria-figure, singing joyously on the mountain in the style of The Sound of Music. I imagine Teresa being wrenched from a profound and joyous communion with God’s creation in order to attend what must seem, by comparison, a silly, rote monotony of obligatory devotions.  Meanwhile the disapproving nuns of her cloister, like sour-faced saints, puzzle over the question, “How do we solve a problem like . . .” Teresa?  By Teresa’s acknowledgment, “With all this wide and beautiful creation before me, the restless soul longs to enjoy its liberty and rest beyond its bound”.

But sometimes I read the quote quite differently.  Instead of praying for deliverance from the silly devotions and sour faces of others, Teresa may have been looking inward, humbly acknowledging the precarious human state of her own spiritual well-being. Perhaps she was reminding herself, and us, to guard against the beguiling distractions that turn genuine devotions into “silly,” unthinking habit.  Perhaps Teresa’s “sour-faced saints” are pious self-satisfactions that bind us to worldly judgments and rob us of the pure joy of God’s grace.  “The best thing must be to flee from all to the All”.

During the season of Lent we are called to be intentional about our meditations, carving out the time and the focus for profound personal devotions and humble self-examination.    
Will we manage to achieve all that we intend?  Probably not, for as Teresa reminds us “To wish to act like angels while we are still in this world is nothing but folly.”  But as we stumble along our Lenten journey let us be inspired and assured by one more of Teresa’s observations:

"The feeling remains that God is on the journey, too."