Who is Teresa of Avila?

Today is my 52nd birthday, and I am hoping this year will bring me the best gift ever…a deeper relationship with God. Because of this, I am embarking on The Wisdom Project—Teresa of Avila and Me. Some of you may be wondering, “Who is Teresa of Avila, and why are you interested in her?”

Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), is a 16th-century Spanish mystic and church reformer whose spiritual writings continue to be read and studied today. Despite poor health and her low status as a woman, she made significant improvements to the Christian church during her lifetime, improvements which continue today through the influence of her spiritual writings.

Teresa writes that as a young woman she desperately wanted a more complete union with God, but she floundered—falling and rising and falling again—for twenty years. It reminds me of Paul's writing to the Romans: “I don’t do the good I want to do; instead, I do the evil I do not want to do” (7:19). How many of us have this same experience? I certainly do, and this year I will be looking to Teresa for wisdom.

In the next 365 days—from this birthday to the next—I will be reading from Teresa of Avila’s Complete Works and I will be writing about the intersection of her life and ideas with the life I see around me. I plan to focus on two works: The Book of My Life and The Interior Castle; however, we will see what happens as the year goes on. Maybe another book will find its way into our time together…All I know for sure is that it will be Teresa and me all the way to year 53!