After this Communion Thérèse describes her thirst for the Lord growing considerably, she even spoke about being “seized with a passionate longing to suffer” (pg. 53). She also found another longing that would continue to guide her the rest of her life, which was, “to love only God and find no joy apart from Him” (pg. 54). What a testimony to a life lived out for the Lord. It was on December 25, 1886, when Thérèse received the grace of her complete conversion. The Lord had done a lot of work in her heart up to that time, most recently he dried up her tears. Before, her life was marked by oversensitivity and continual spells of bitter weeping. She knew in her heart that she wanted to grow out of this childish way of thinking, after all, who would let someone like that into Carmel? She prayed and felt the Lord take this burden from her. After this ridding of her excess …show more content…
Her childhood, her struggles, her passions, her challenges and loves all were displayed in this beautifully honest autobiography. Every aspect of Thérèse’s life was deeply spiritual as her relationship with God was intimate and deep, therefore this journal-styled autobiography was about spirituality in one person’s life. Thérèse writes a lot about how easy it is to go along with the world’s way of life and be in sin and apart from communion with the Father. “… For even a slightly enlightened soul, the world’s sweetness is mixed with bitterness, and a moment’s flattery cannot fill the immense gulf of such a soul’s desires” (pg. 57). Thérèse considers herself chosen and elect by God, a clear Calvinist theology. She describes her soul as being “drawn towards God from its first awakening…” (pg. 58). Regardless of the grace Thérèse believes she was born with, she knows that the Christian life is full of hardship and turmoil; she experienced this first hand for many seasons of her life through loss and mistreatment of