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When people read John of the Cross’ two books, Ascent of Mount Carmel or Dark Night of the Soul, they tend to come away overwhelmed.
John can sound so demanding that we think to ourselves, “How can I possibly live out his words today? Do I really have to suffer as much as he did—or as much as he talks about it?” But I believe that when we understand John’s view of the Christian life, we discover a very human and complete path to God.
So in these next two articles, I want to look at John’s teaching from another angle—an angle that will help us draw closer to God. I want to show how John’s teachings really are encouraging and hopeful, and how he is convinced that all of us can come to the point where we are able to love each other with the very love that God has for us.
Finding Harmony. In the Prologue of his poem, Living Flame of…
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It would be great to hear more about how the “emptying” referred to is accomplished (ie. - how do we cooperate with God’s grace to “put on the new man"). Perhaps this will be the subject of future articles...?
Good question, Christopher. I too would like to know more. Maybe part of “emptying” concerns my deep recognition that I am really nothing ( as St. Catherine Siena says ) , that I am not the source of my own being but rather creature thus owing all to God, that I am full of tensions and contradictions, and at bottom am anxiously in need of God’s mutual indwelling presence.