Soul Conditioning
A prerequisite for the journey of the soul is a 'still' house. To attain to this stillness is to rid the soul of any desires, which impede the entrance of God's grace and His Presence. Desires are not to make loud demands and to engage our will. Thus, it has to be free from inordinate 'desires', namely all those "for the external things of the world, the delights of the flesh, and the gratification of the will." ( 1 John 2:15-17 ).
From birth our souls were 'empty slates'. Over the years, our senses deposit abundant "writings" upon the slate. In receiving information from all five senses, the soul becomes aware of the broad range of objects in the external world, which become imprinted on the soul. It is then in the power of the soul to desire what it has experienced. In so doing, it draws the will to what it desires. Objects themselves can never damage a soul, but the turning of the will toward them in any excessive manner can ( 1 John 5:21 ).
Desires can damage the soul in two ways. First, they deprive the soul of grace and its working; second, they influence the soul in a variety of ways - all harmful. By their nature, these desires are ever demanding and restless. Satisfying them does not remove them. To the contrary, the more they are satisfied, the more demanding they become. As they grow, they harass the soul and prevent it from functioning well. What they affect in particular are the intellect, memory, and will ( Phil. 2:2-5 ).
Soul Standards
St John also indicates the ideal activities of these three faculties: the intellect is to receive "the illumination of God's wisdom"; the memory is to take on "serenely the impression of God's image"; and the will to embrace "God within in pure love". Each faculty is to be totally open to God. The intellect is to be filled with only divine "wisdom" - its knowledge is to be God-centered; the memory is to reflect perfectly God alone; the will is to choose God solely - human and divine will becoming one ( John 17:23 ).
This is not the usual state of the soul. Desires (lusts) clutter it and prevent it from acting in grace with a single goal and single focus: God. The greater the number of desires and the more varied their objects, the less focused the soul can be, and less freely it can act under the impulse of grace ( Col. 3:5-10 ).
Matt 11:28-29 summarizes this teaching. Reflecting on this passage, St John says, All you going about tormented, afflicted, and weighed down by your cares and appetites, depart from them. Come to me and I will refresh you and you will find the rest for your souls that the desires take away from you. (Ascent, p. 134 [29][StJohn1])
Soul Examination
St John urges us to see desires (lusts) at the root of negative behavior - to discern, and to resist them. To identify those controlling forces is the first step. Then you locate them and place them in a position to be removed from your life. To do this, the following practical steps may prove helpful:
Make a failure list of 6 or so desires that we suspect are harming our spiritual growth. This list could include such things as an excessive need for affirmation, approval, acceptance, power, success, and possessions. These factors lead to guilt, shame, greed, envy, impatience, intolerance, anger, resentments, and various forms of addictions. To bring to light this darkness clarifies its hold on us. With a sense of hope, we can look forward to either their disappearance from our souls or to our deft control of them.
Carefully examine why we have an excessive or inordinate desire for those objects. By assessing the source of our behavior, we may be able to understand more fully why we act as we do.
We bring the desire, with its origins and manifestations to prayer. Placing ourselves in the presence of Jesus, we can ask, "Free me from this desire". When we pray. "Let me not desire this", we are inviting grace to work. Gradually we may find that the desire no longer takes control of our soul in any degree. On the contrary, now it is our will united with God's will that controls the desire.
To work out this healing process for each inordinate desire or lust, recognize that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. As we share in His divine nature, His power enables us to escape the corruption that sinful desires cause in the world ( 2 Pet. 1:3-10 ).
But it is up to us to work out our salvation by adding on to what He has done for us on the cross. Accordingly, as God's grace enters our life, we are responsible to:
Add integrity to our faith, and this by moral excellence and goodness of character, moral strength and moral courage ( 1 Thess. 4:1-7 ).
Add knowledge : practical intelligence, insight. It means knowing what to do in every situation, and doing it; it is practical, day to day knowledge that sees situations and knows how to handle them. It is seeing the trials and temptations of life and knowing what to do with them and doing it ( John 8:31 ; Rom. 12:9-21 ).
Add temperance : to master and control the body or the flesh with all its desires and lusts. It means self-control, the master of desire, appetite, and passion, especially sensual urges and cravings. It means to stand against the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life ( 1 John 2:15-16 ).
Add patience : endurance, fortitude, steadfastness, constancy, and perseverance. It is the spirit that stands up and faces life's trials, that actively goes about conquering and overcoming them. It is trials in life that teach one how to be patient ( Luke 21:19 ; Rom. 12:1-2 ; James 1:2-4 ).
Add godliness . This actually means to live in the reverence and awe of God; to be conscious of God's presence that one lives just as God would live if He were walking upon earth. It means to live seeking to be like God; to seek to possess the character, nature, and behavior of God. Man is to seek to gain a consciousness of God's presence - a consciousness so intense that he actually lives as God would live if He were on earth ( 2 Cor. 3:18 ; 2 Pet. 2:3,11 ; Titus 2:12-13 ).
Add brotherly kindness . This means to love others unconditionally as God loves us. This selfless or agape love is a gift of God. It can be experienced only if a person knows God personally only if a person has received the love of God, that is, Christ Jesus, into his heart and life.
Soul Values
A response to these virtues and godly values, and the exercise of these qualities will gradually replace and force out the inordinate desires that beset many lives. The road to spiritual growth is open before us. We can advance as St. Paul describes as we become less dominated by desires within our souls, and more open to the working of grace: "You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" ( Eph. 4:22-24 ; Rom. 8:29 ).
The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified - our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness. Thus, we need to look at ourselves and work out our salvation daily. See Section A.5, “Dying To Self” .
Reference: See article "Desires: Guidance from St. John of the Cross", by Shirley D. Sullivan, 'Spiritual Life' magazine. 2131 Lincoln Road, NE, Washington, DC 20002)