A poem to ponder amid Covid-19 pandemic

St. Teresa of Avila, a 16th century Spanish Carmelite nun, a reformer of the Carmelite Order, and a doctor of the Church, wrote a short poem in her own penmanship and language which has become famous even today. It is considered a very profound basis of Christian spirituality.

The six-line poem in original Spanish says:

Nada te turbe.
Nada te espante.
Todo se pasa.
Dios no se muda.
La paciencia
todo lo alcanza.
Solo Dios basta.

In English it means:

Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing scare you.
Everything passes away.
God does not change.
Patience obtains
everything.
God alone is enough.

I use the word “ponder”, instead of “think”, or “reflect” because it is necessary before making a serious decision. The words comes from the Latin “pondus” which means a heavy weight.

To ponder therefore the inspiring poem of St. Teresa is to engage in a serious and heavy process of a crucial decision leading to personal transformation.