Starr's "Book of My Life" Lets St. Teresa Breathe Again

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	• Teresa of Avila: The Book of My Life New Seeds, 2007 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Translating St. Teresa for todays seeker

The beauty and art of Mirabai Starr's translations of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross is her ability to convey their lives and souls and consciousness for today's seeker. The place and time in which Teresa lived is so completely different from even the monastics of our day that to render her every word, including her copious remarks of self-deprecation, would be an injustice to her spirit. She was a free thinker of her day and powerful in a way that was almost unknown for a nun in medieval Spain, but her world was significantly different than anything any of us would experience today, whether we are a monastic or a lay person. Mirabai's greatest triumph is her ability to communicate with the saints through her meditative and prayerful listening heart and to convey their spirit and message to seekers who come from diverse traditions. What comes to mind are the renderings of Rumi by Coleman Barks, the original language, metaphors and nuances of which are simply impossible to translate into contemporary English. It is only by becoming a "drinking buddy" with Rumi that Coleman has been able to bring Rumi's ecstatic poetry into our world. This, i feel, is a genius that Mirabai Starr possesses, to bridge the world of these Spanish mystics and ours so that their aspirations ignite ours. For such a glimpse into the souls of these saints, i am deeply grateful.

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This is the book of All Our Lives

Mirabai Starr is a genius once again. Having read her previous translations, "Dark Night of the Soul" by John of the Cross, and Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila--I expected "The Book of My Life" to be compelling. But I didn't expect it to knock my socks off. Teresa's Book of Lives paints a portrait of a mystic in the making, and over time we begin to see where Teresa is headed---the unitive state.

With one eye on precise translation and the other on the meaning behind every word--Starr sees clearly not only what Teresa was saying but also the mystery to which her words point. Starr introduces us to a Teresa who is down to earth but capable of soaring, nevertheless. Through her open translation Miabai Starr opens the eye of our understanding as to the unitive state toward which Teresa is headed. When Teresa longs for the unitive state, Mirabai Starr helps us get in touch with that longing.

This ability to bring Teresa close, to make her live, to make her breathe, to ask her what it means to be human--to find ourselves in Teresa and find her in us--this is the greatest gift of "The Book of My Life."

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Starr's "Book of My Life" Lets St. Teresa Breathe Again

Mirabai Starr is a gifted interpreter of the Spanish mystics--John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. In her newest endeavor, "The Book of My Life" by Teresa of Avila, Starr reclaims some of Teresa's original passion and integrity as a woman and a powerbroker in the Church at the time. Starr's approach of reading deeply into the original text and liberating it from the bonds of historical patriarchal and doctrinal rectitude allows the reader to know Teresa as the courageous spiritual and social innovator that she was. Starr's window into how Teresa internalizes her visions in prayer and embodies the wounds of Christ will be immediately recognizable to women readers--as will Starr's rendering of how Teresa struggles with authority and power. This is a must read book for women who are rooted in faith and seek to engage the powers of the world.

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Very Personal Story

I am no Bible scholar nor am I a Catholic. I am of the Evangelical corner of Christianity. This is the first biography of any Catholic saint that I've ever read. To me, Teresa's story is very personal and is certainly no coincidence that I read it at this particular time in my life. I have no idea how much of her writing in anguish about how she feels she failed the Lord has been edited out, but after reading the book, I have an understanding that she must have been quite severe on herself. That is often my own struggle. Her story has given me a tremendous amount of encouragement in pleasing the Lord which was my hope when I picked up the book. How you approach this book may depend entirely on the condition of your heart and whether or not you were lead to read about Teresa's life.

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A Spiritual Gem for the 21st Century

Mirabai Starr's review makes Teresa of Avila come alive for the twenty-first century spiritual seeker. Faithfulness to spiritual teachers of the past requires us to hear their voices in the language and images that they would use were they alive today as well as the voice of their own time. The Book of My Life is an invitation to the reader to explore the book of her or his own life and experience God's presence in the ordinary as well as extraordinary moments of life. Mirabai Starr has the gift of enabling the voices of the past to resonate in new and exciting ways for our time. This translation of the Book of My life will awaken today's readers to the spiritual insights of an earlier era and inspire their own spiritual adventures in our time.

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