Contemplation

JimR-OCDS · Jul 2, 2014

bmjackson said:
Yes l know this. Only a few will consent to the great suffering involved to get there. Quite a few get to Illumination, like at times of revival, but Union as you say is rare, as St John tells us. Do you think that anyone today is in Union?

It's not a place of suffering necessarily. There is great joy, and many who reach this stage go through the Dark Night of the Soul.

Others, suffer no more than others in life, but they go through it with great joy and trust in God.

Jim

bmjackson · Jul 2, 2014

The devil hates them though and will bring much travail into their lives. I don't know any who did not go through severity in the passive night of the spirit (soul is earlier) and in fact St John says that it is terrible beyond description, but of course the darkness ends when the light comes and they know the sweetness of union, though they will still be under attack, but henceforth, they will be overcomers and have joy and not the utter blackness as in the night.

JimR-OCDS · Jul 2, 2014

bmjackson said:
The devil hates them though and will bring much travail into their lives. I don't know any who did not go through severity in the passive night of the spirit (soul is earlier) and in fact St John says that it is terrible beyond description, but of course the darkness ends when the light comes and they know the sweetness of union, though they will still be under attack, but henceforth, they will be overcomers and have joy and not the utter blackness as in the night.

Yeah, detaching from the appetites is a struggle for everyone who seeks union with God.

In all, we link our sufferings, whatever they may be, with those of Christ's.

I often think about Jesus agony in the garden, and the feeling he must have had knowing what was coming to him and how he could've just said, I won't do it, and seek out some hiding place in the wilderness.

Instead, He followed the Father's will and of course suffered horribly.

When I think about giving up a glass of wine with my dinner, and what an easy sacrifice it is compared to what Christ went through, it seems to be both easier and more difficult at the same time. There' s a paradox it seems.

Anyway, you're off to a good start in what you have already been given, by God.

God Bless
Jim

Root of Jesse · Jul 2, 2014

JimR-OCDS said:
According to The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Vol. 1 [Teresa of Avila, Otilio Rodriguez, Otilio Rodriguez, Kieran Kavanaugh, in the introduction, they author Kiernan Kavenaugh wrote that because not translation of Scripture other than Classical Latin were allowed in 1500's Spain, St Teresa would not have been able to read the Bible.

I agree, spiritually, she is not only akin to St John of the Cross, but brought him into contemplative prayer to begin with.

However, her writing style is what I'm referring to. She herself admits that she's not good at explaining herself in written word.

She tends to go off on tangents and loses some readers before getting back to the point.

John of the Cross is more systematic.

Anyway, the members of my OCDS group generally preferred St John of the Cross' works.

Jim

My ADHD group reads many things simultaneously.

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