St John of the Cross-- on community

I watched a movie last night on St John of the Cross (by the same title, from IGS publications)
It was one of those movies on the saints you have to sort of convince yourself to watch, but after you get over the idea of seeing it as a film (and I can thank Annie for this perfect explanation of some of these Catholic films) it becomes.... amazing.Because you get wrapped up in the life of the Saint you are following, and not because your are wowed cinematographically.

Obviously, John of the Cross had an amazing life, but he was one. of those Carmelite saints it was hard for me to crack open. Possibly i related to him less because he was a man, but also because he really and truly lived day in and day out in a tender suffering that I am not ready to embrace.

Being an aspirant with the Discalced Carmelites, I knew he was amazing and I would love him, but for whatever reason, it took me a bit of a push to get into his works and ideas. This film helped me to do that, and now I am thirsting for more.

It spoke VOLUMES to me about my Carmelite walk and my walk as a wife and mother in a community. God has been dealing with me a lot on the issue of hope lately, and certainly most of St John's life was about retaining the virtue of hope in a world that was seemingly very dark.

More importantly, it was in the spiritual direction that he gave the nuns that I found guidance for my place in the community. Perpetual dissatisfaction is the name of the game with me, because I find a community I love and then I find fault-- both in myself as I relate to it and in the community itself, and then it drives me bananas. I'm at that stage in my Parish right now. The first step, obviously, is to follow my personal motto and "be the change I want to see in the world."
If I want people to leave mass quietly so as to retain a prayerful atmosphere as they should, then I must take care to do so also. If I want people to be reverent from the moment they set foot in the church, then I must do so as well. But more than that, I have to learn to deal with situations that arise in a community: when I don't like the way someone did or does something, or when I get frustrated with a person's bad habits and things like that. More importantly, I think, when another person's unfolding drama seems to take over your life. This happens all around me, and it certainly happens to me-- for some reason it so happens that other people's "stuff," as my old dance teacher would say, gets in the way of my own ability to enjoy life.

For that, John of the Cross had the most marvelous advice. It was glorious to hear, but also stung quite a bit. First, because it involved detachment of my emotions, and encouraged me to simply BE and not BE IMPLICATED or involved, but also because it encouraged me to take some responsibility myself: not just to pray for them but also to LOVE them. Which sounds easy enough, but in application is hard to figure out. By watching his life unfold, it was lightening hit me and I just GOT it. He said:

“It is great wisdom to know how to be silent and to look at neither the remarks, nor the deeds, nor the lives of others.”

and also:

"where there is no love, put love, and there you will find love."

Taken together, these two quotes show the perfect harmony that detachment from the world and prayer create---- and basically perfectly lay out what speaks to me so deeply in Carmelite spirituality: Love.

I guess this pretty much sums up his philosophy:

“Abide in peace, banish cares, take no account of all that happens, and you will serve God according to his good pleasure and rest in him.”


St John of the Cross, pray for me.