St. John of the cross: The ascent of mount carmel

Spiritual Life, Spring 2002 by Farrington, Mary Ann

IF WE ACCEPT THE BASIC PREMISE that to indulge ourselves in those things that make us deliciously happy and to take on only the "easy yokes" and "light burdens" of life, we will find peace, joy, and contentment, then the spirituality of John of the Cross makes perfect sense. This is exactly what St. John tells us to do in The Ascent of Mount Carmel: act in our own best self-interest-unite our will to the will of God. As someone once said, however, "It is difficult when you are up to your neck in alligators, to remember that the original objective was to drain the swamp." Perception is everything.

I believe that The Ascent of Mount Carmel not only offers counsels for psychologically healthy living, but it also presents a perfect blueprint for the deepest kind of happiness and contentment.

Extreme Rhetoric

John of the Cross has long been portrayed as serious, exacting, and even harsh in his directives regarding what must be done to reach perfect union with God. Indeed, his language can be frightening at first glance: "As for God, who will stop him from accomplishing his desires in the soul that is resigned, annihilated, and despoiled?" (Ascent 2:4:2).' Admittedly, words like "annihilated" do not conjure up great thoughts of sweetness and delight. St. John does call upon us to choose the most difficult, most distasteful, less pleasant, hardest, and least consoling things in life (Ascent 1:13:6). But we should ponder what the first part of the "annihilation" quote is saying-"As for God who will stop him from accomplishing his desires ..... Understanding this first section is necessary in order to know what God is conveying to us through St. John. Just what are God's desires for us? Paul says, "No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has the human heart or thought ever grasped what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Cor 2:9). Only if we lean on dark faith, accept it for our guide and light, and rest on nothing of what we can understand, taste, feel, or imagine can we even begin to be caught up in the wonder of what those words could mean (Ascent 2:4:2). This is why St. John uses seemingly extreme rhetoric. He understood, in his humble, lovefilled heart that every creature, every desire, every delight that does not bring us closer to the God of our hearts, is worth nothing:

All the delights and satisfactions of the will in the things of the world compared to the delight that is God are intense suffering, torment, and bitterness .... All the wealth and glory of creation compared to the wealth that is God is utter poverty and misery in the Lord's sight. (Ascent 1:4:7)

Focus on Love

Yes, St. John of the Cross can be forceful, unbending, and even tough at times, but his words are always focused and purposeful. There is never a time in his writings where he advocates pain and suffering for themselves alone. This is no masochist whose dark view of life colors his every thought and action. John of the Cross was a man of love, in love with his heart's desire:

How gently and lovingly / you wake in my heart,

where in secret you dwell alone; / and in your sweet breathing,

filled with good and glory,

how tenderly you swell my heart with love.

(The Living Flame of Love, v. 4)

John knew that such a great Love comes at a price, the price of returning a similar love. We can only love God fully if we are able to give back to him the most perfect love-Himself. The way to do this is to choose the way that Christ chose-the cross.

Central to all of John's teaching, and the strongest argument in my opinion that his counsels are psychologically healthy, is his frequent reference to the passion and death of Christ. In the Paschal mystery is contained all that is essential for becoming a complete and whole person. In overcoming death in all its forms, Christ made "life" possible for us. It is this life that St. John counsels us to keep focused on. He makes very clear what is necessary on the road leading to God: "Only the one thing necessary: true self-denial, exterior and interior, through surrender of self both to suffering for Christ and to annihilation in all things" (Ascent 2:7:8) As always, John follows such admonitions with the positive reason for self-denial and annihilation: "In the exercise of this self-denial, everything else, and even more, is discovered and accomplished" (ibid.).

We need to learn how to read St. John. While he does not hold back in outlining the difficulties we will encounter on our journey to God, he is always focused on the joyful and wonderful Goal that we seek. His words, accordingly, are beautiful, uplifting, hopeful, and encouraging.

Journey of Purification

John's "journey" is a journey toward the Light, toward what is good and peaceful and perfect. But he knew very well that "As regards the road to union, entering on the road means leaving one's own road; or better, moving on to the goal" (Ascent 2:4:5). This is where the sacrifice and suffering come into play. Our faculties of intellect, memory, and will have been weakened and clouded through sin. As John tells us,