11. The lines are these:
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12. When thy mind dwells upon anything,
13. In this detachment the spiritual soul finds its quiet and repose; for, since it covets nothing, nothing wearies it when it is lifted up, and nothing oppresses it when it is cast down, because it is in the centre of its humility; but when it covets anything, at that very moment it becomes wearied. |
Having had the benefit of living an ascetical life, thereby striving to unbend my rigid mindset and habits to make these more conformable to the Will of God, I have a strong feeling that the above quoted passages are, in reality, attainable. They are, first of all, not just words. St. John of the Cross, and many other saints, also Franciscan saints, attained this mysterious union with God. Saint Francis of Assisi couldn't have lived the ascetical life he lived if a union with God wasn't possible. Now most of us do not associate St. Francis with an ascetical lifestyle, but the way he lived his life, in strict humility, in total negation of self seems to bear this out. His close relationship with Jesus, and his openness to the Holy Spirit, led Francis to this union with God. No, he didn't read St. John of the Cross, because St. John was born in 1542, about 300 years after St. Francis.
In section 11, above, St. John's message is to guard our "senses," and to control ourselves because we know, as he makes clear, that total focus on God is not attainable as long as we focus on many other "lesser Gods." These desires of 'sense' (random thought, sight, smell, feel, sound, etc.) stand between us and God. Although these desires aren't necessarily sinful in themselves (except if done to excess with the wrong motives), in order to attain a close union with God all other desires must be controlled and will eventually (as we progress in our total devotion to God) cease. It takes a long time, usually.
For those who have a great desire to make this spiritual pilgrimage to live a closer life with God, understanding the above quoted paragraphs of St. John of the Cross, seems inevitable as these ideas are lived out. I greatly desire this ultimate union, whether I will attain it in this lifetime remains to be seen. For many of us, I suspect, we won't get there until we set foot in Heaven, and then probably after a long term in Purgatory. And that goes for me, too. But why wait until then? If you love God, start this pilgrimage now. Don't wait another day.
I think the first thing to do is to make inventory. No, not of your house or apartment, of savings account, but of your soul. Where do we stand in the "Desire nothing except God" department? This reminds me of making the choice what to keep or throw out in a cluttered-up house. If you're anything like me, a packrat of sorts, those decisions must be made when you run out of room. My usual thinking is... I haven't touched this in six month, so out it goes ... but then, doubt could set in, and I wonder why throw it out if you might still use it. It's a vicious circle. Do the same thing with the inventory of the soul, but now be firmer. It's great to have pleasure in life, but it isn't everything! Possessing many 'things' lead us away from God because we spend more time on the 'things' than on God. It isn't necessary for us to know everything. The Holy Spirit will assist a faithful soul in knowing all that is necessary in order to bring us ever closer to God.
Mother Teresa said, "We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls."
In order to become closer to God, after our "inventory," the next thing is to find this inner silence. It's not necessary to be in a monastery (but it helps) - this silence can also be achieved by bringing down the inner turmoil. To do that, make a determined effort to sin less, and less, and less. And, conversely, to love God more, and more and more. That will lead to inner silence. When the soul is in torment, inner silence is more difficult because we're worrying so much that we only think about the turmoil and not about God. Take someone who absolutely cannot forgive his brother for doing something that offends - learn to forgive. If you don't, you cannot find this inner silence. If one is continually listening to CD's (many a teenager comes to mind) and thus by repetition begins to absorb, subliminally perhaps, the undesirable message of the lyrics, you will not find that inner silence necessary for progressing closer to God. Gossiping is another problem that will stand between us and God, in fact, anything that is not of God, anything that offends God, will lessen that inner silence of the soul, if, in fact, we ever possessed it.
Here I must quote the French Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet (1627-1704), again, "When God desires a work to be wholly from His hand, he reduces all to impotence and nothingness, and then He acts." Let's meditate on this for a while... Bossuet tells us that God wants us to be completely his own in order to let Him work through us. We are the instruments or conduits of God's actions in the world. If we are very busy, busy people, we often do not make time for God, but if we stay aloof of all worldly "busy-ness" (the endless talking without having anything of substance to say would be a good example of busy-ness) and are open to the Holy Spirit, then when God calls us to act on His behalf, we'll be ready. We won't say "Just a minute." In order for us to abandon ourselves, we have to accept this the need for this 'nothingness', this emptiness of all corruption, if you will, and then we are ready. Then God has a clear field of operation to build us back up - out of sin, and into God's Graces.
The soul needs to be made ready for improvement. Throw out the the dirty linens, and begin again. Begin anew by filling your soul with things that are good, rather than things that are evil. For once in our lives, do it His way, not our way, not my way, and not your way, but God's way.
I believe
that's what St. John of the Cross was getting at.
May God
continue to bless you and give you His peace!
Fred Schaeffer, SFO
3-18-2006
Giving yourself to God and to others-Part II - Part IV