The Footprints of Love

Book excerpt: Like a graphic artist, the discriminating pen of John of the Cross (1540-1591) sketches 'a trail made up of the footprints of love'. He does not sketch a romantic image of a 'mystical' paradise where we may experience the glory of the divine presence. Listening to the stories of the struggles of countless people in his day, he became an experienced mystical teacher who introduces the reader into Carmelite spirtuality as a 'school of love'. To encounter the other we must venture to enter a new land where there are no familiar roads. The wilderness of the mystic is the space where the face of the other can light up. In his love God withdraws himself so that human life may take shape as 'a trail made up of the footprints of love'. This book contains a set of explorations of the logic of divine love, a love which transforms men into true lovers. It deals with the four great commentaries of John of the Cross and one of his poems.