I never liked Frank Sinatra’s song My Way; it doesn’t relate to my experience. All he talks about is how everything he has done was according to his will. When was the last time that something went your way? No, think about it. Most of the time, things don’t go as we expected. Yet, for those who follow and do God’s will everything goes according to their will. How so? Consider this story about a conversation between Saint Teresa of Avila and Jesus. 

Saint Teresa was on her way to found another monastery when suddenly she fell from her horse into the muddy ground. Now, being the Spaniard that she was, she had a quick temper, and exclaimed: “Oh my Lord! When will you cease scattering obstacles in our path!” To which the Lord replied: “Do not complain, daughter. This is how I treat my friends.” Her response was one of extreme familiarity, “If this is how you treat your friends, it is no wonder you have so few!”(Life of Saint Teresa) 

Was Saint Teresa simply being arrogant by talking back to God? No, rather we can say that she was very familiar with God because of the union of her will with that of God. Just as friends and family members can say things that might seem rude to strangers, so it is the case with the saints. Saint Teresa clearly saw herself as a friend of God, but this was only possible because she had attuned her will to that of God. Think about it this way. When one plays a guitar that is out of tune it sounds horrible and it doesn’t do what it was made to do, namely to play music. The guitarist has then to tune it using a specific tool that allows him to gauge whether one needs to apply pressure to the string or loosen it. Only when the string plays the right note according to the tuner is the guitar capable of producing music. So also our souls.

God has made us for a specific purpose, namely, union with the Triune God. But because of sin, we have lost our “tune,” as it were. Just as a guitar that is not used after a long time loses its tune, so it is with our souls. When we do not apply our intellect and will to know God and to love him, we begin to lose our capacity to share in his knowledge and love, we fail to join in that angelic choir singing God’s praises. As St. Teresa put it, “The wills of the friends must be in accord.” And God has given us a tool to achieve perfect harmony with God’s will, namely prayer. Saint Teresa’s spirited prayer was nothing more than “an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us” (Life, 96). But she explains that this friendship and love cannot endure until there is a union of wills. Through prayer God fine-tunes our souls, applying pressure or loosening our “strings.” He might send us things that will purify our will, or he might send us consolations to strengthen us for future battles. In all this, however, we should strive not to seek God’s consolations, but the God of consolations, as Saint Bernard would say. 

God wants us to live according to how we were meant to live: to know the truth and to love the good; and there is nothing truer than God’s own Word, and nothing greater than God himself. But for us to be admitted into the choirs of angels, we must allow God to fine-tune our soul through prayer so that we might become an instrument fit to sing the praises of God.

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Image: Eduardo Balaca, Santa Teresa de Jesús