Interior Castle

Interior Castle, by St. Teresa of Avila (1515- 1582), describes seven sets of "mansions" that represent different states of the soul.  (All quotes here from the translation by E. Allison Peers.)

I began to think of the soul as if it were a castle made of a single diamond or of very clear crystal, in which there are many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions. … Let us now imagine that this castle, as I have said, contains many mansions, some above, others below, others at each side; and in the centre and midst of them all is the chiefest mansion where the most secret things pass between God and the soul.

This spiritual guide, written for the instruction of the saint's fellow nuns, doesn't precisely specify the distinctions among these mansions, but it does provide guidance on how to pray and do God's will.

"We shall never succeed in knowing ourselves unless we seek to know God: let us think of His greatness and then come back to our own baseness" (First Mansions, Chapter 2).

“All that the beginner in prayer has to do … is to labour and be resolute and prepare himself with all possible diligence to bring his will into conformity with the will of God" (Second Mansions, Chapter 1).

"Love consists, not in the extent of our happiness, but in the firmness of our determination to try to please God in everything”   (Fourth Mansions, Chapter 1).

"In such spiritual activity as this, the person who does most is he who thinks least and desires to do least: what we have to do is to beg like poor and needy persons coming before a great and rich Emperor and then cast down our eyes in humble expectation" (Fourth Mansions, Chapter 3).

The description of the Fifth Mansions includes the image of the silkworm:
“The silkworm is like the soul which begins to utilize the general help which God gives to us all, and to make use of the remedies which He left in His Church -- such as frequent confessions, good books and sermons.  The soul begins to live and nourishes itself on this food, and on good meditations, until it is full grown.  …  Let us hasten to perform this task and spin this cocoon. Let us renounce our self-love and self-will, and our attachment to earthly things. Let us practise penance, prayer, mortification, obedience, and all the other good works that you know of. Let us do what we have been taught; and we have been instructed about what our duty is. Let the silkworm die -- let it die, as in fact it does when it has completed the work which it was created to do.  …  When it is in this state of prayer, and quite dead to the world, it comes out a little white butterfly.  …  everything it sees on earth leaves it dissatisfied,  That soul has now delivered itself into His hands and His great love has so completely subdued it that it neither knows nor desires anything save that God shall do with it what He wills.”

In the Sixth Mansions, the soul longs to be with God: "That sight of Him which it has had is so deeply impressed upon it that its whole desire is to enjoy it once more. ... The best medicine is to occupy oneself with external affairs and works of charity and to hope in God's mercy. ... Our best plan is to place ourselves in the Lord's presence, meditate upon His mercy and grace and upon our own lowliness, and leave Him to give us what He wills."

In the Seventh Mansions, "all three Persons communicate Themselves to the soul and speak to the soul and explain to it that He and the Father and the Holy Spirit will come to dwell with the soul which loves Him and keeps His commandments. ... the soul will very seldom think of itself; its whole thought will be concentrated upon finding ways to please Him and upon showing Him how it loves Him. This, my daughters, is the aim of prayer."

The Perils of Meritocracy

The meritocracy that exists in American society is the subject of two articles that consider current events and classical philosophers.

In The Washington Post, Fareed Zakaria argued that meritocracy is under assault and under siege.  This meritocracy replaced a aristocratic system, led by WASPs, that "rewarded wealth, social status, and family connections."  In First Things, Patrick J. Deneen explained this American aristocracy was stable because both the working class and the elites believed two premises that were first described by Plato in the Republic: (1) all citizens (both classes) are united by their commonalities (e.g., belonging the same family or clan) and (2) each person belongs to a specific, distinctive, and unequal class.  When all believe both premises, the working class accepts the inequality, while the elites use their wealth and power to help others and serve the common good.

Today, this consensus appears to be unraveling.  Zakaria criticized a proposal to change the criteria for admission to New York City's selective, specialized high schools.  Socially liberal elites are uncomfortable admitting that there is a hierarchy of talent.  Deneen made the same point and stated that today's elites embrace inclusion---we're all equal, and no one should be left out---because they take the first premise as given.  The elites deny the second premise, however, which allows them to ignore their responsibility to the common good by emphasizing inclusion and claiming that those who are not elites chose their fate.  Their blindness is the result of rejecting Christ's commands.

Zakaria concluded that, despite its faults, no alternative is  better than meritocracy.  Deneen concluded that, because the elites whom this meritocracy created refuse to acknowledge their position and fail to work for the common good, the working class will continue to support populist rebellions.

Sources:
Deneen, Patrick J., "The Ignoble Lie," First Things, April 2018.  https://www.firstthings.com/article/2018/04/the-ignoble-lie

Harris, Elizabeth A., "De Blasio Proposes Changes to New York’s Elite High Schools," The New York Times, June 2, 2018.  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/02/nyregion/de-blasio-new-york-schools.html

Zakaria, Fareed, "American meritocracy is under attack," The Washington Post, June 29, 2018.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/meritocracy-is-under-attack/2018/06/28/e9f689d0-7afb-11e8-93cc-6d3beccdd7a3_story.html?utm_term=.b0d259db9570