http://www.lifeaftersunday.com/intimate.shtml
The Intimate Path:
the Path to an Amazing
Life
Intro | The Purification Stage | The
Illuminative Stage | The Unitive
Stage
Intro
|
The path
to an amazing, fully-human life is the path of |
Every enduring relationship follows this path—most especially, the relationship
between each human person and the infinite Presence of God.
By recognizing a startling beauty
and natural wisdom in daily life, we encounter this mysterious Presence. This
most original relationship—for which every human person was created and finds
fulfillment—naturally follows these stages to deep, intimate union. This is the
witness of the saints. This is the unique glory of the human person fully
alive.
Where are you on your journey
along the Intimate Path?
We begin a great attraction
by suddenly noticing the beauty of Someone mysterious in everyday reality.
In awe, we want to get to know this Presence who draws us to ponder the meaning
of life.
St. John of the Cross calls this the "purification" or
"purgative" stage, the stage where all other distractions get
winnowed away because you can't stop paying attention to this mysterious
Someone who is beckoning you through everyday events.
In the Purification Stage of the Intimate Path, the Lord offers to
purify everything that is keeping us from drawing closer to him. First, we are
struck in awe and Wonder at the attraction of this amazing Man.
This prompts us to become Open to his actions in such a way that we
begin to pay closer Attention to his movements in our lives. Slowly we
begin to give our Assent to his plan instead of our own, and find the
joy of discovering someone we can totally Trust.
·
Wonder (vs. Indifference)
The
wonder of everyday life spurs interior stirrings. Looking at all of life with
new eyes, we ask: Where did all of this come from? How did I get here? What
will happen when I am no longer here? Why would I matter to a Creator of all
this? Wonder at the richness of the created world, wonder at the beauty of life
provokes our longing to know the Mystery of love and life behind it all. This
is the beginning of the religious sense, true prayer and meditation. A new
attraction to life in the Church occurs—even for those among us who have been
"practicing" for many years. Are you open?
·
Open (vs. Closed)
Opening
ourselves up to this new experience of the Mystery of God allows his infinite
Presence to be revealed to us without preconception. Sadly, we often "box
up" God in the same way we box up each other. We make up our minds about
God and go no further. When this happens, we may not always be open to his
ongoing mystery of revelation to us personally. At this point, however—far from
closed—our hearts are made open, exposed to new possibilities, so his living
Presence can reveal everything wonderful about himself. Will you give him your
attention?
·
Attention (vs. Overlook)
Openness
leads us further into this mystery of how God reveals himself—of Revelation. By
paying close attention, we begin to notice his Presence in day-to-day events
and encounters. This feeds and deepens our belief in the mystery of his Word
and the gift of the sacramental life of the Church. Prayer becomes more
important as we continue to grow in recognition of the essence of God. The
privilege of this new attention is the first glimpse of the promptings of the
Spirit of love between the Father and the Son, the first sign of the presence
of who we call "the Master Lover"! Will you let him teach you how to
love? Will you give your assent?
·
Assent (vs. Denial)
When
we pay attention and recognize the affection of the Master Lover,
"yes" is the only adequate human response. A "yes" to the
mystery of a life with God satisfies the deepest longings of the human heart.
This is the intimate relationship for which each human heart was created! An
assent to this life echoes the response of the Blessed Mother at the Annunciation.
She had no idea what the future held for her, but she gave her entire self over
to a great, attractive Mystery who was revealing himself to her. While she
pondered the mystery of this encounter, the deepest desires of her heart were
fulfilled in such a way that all generations have recognized that she is
blessed. . . all because of her assent. The more we assent, the more we allow
ourselves to be led in total trust. . .
·
Trust (vs. Suspicion)
Now
we can trust that the wonder and beauty of life is not a mirage. . . not a
cruel joke. . . not an empty grand tease. Through openness, attention and
assent, everyday "life" events have become signs of a living Presence
of God who can be trusted with everything. Now we can joyfully live this trust
with others in the life of the Church. We can do this because we trust the
witness of this relationship chronicled by those who have gone before us. The
intimate life of the Church is the great encounter of love between the Lord and
his Bride. Both the Bride and Bridegroom can be trusted. Without this trust,
our growing intimacy stops right here. Yet so much more is possible. Will you
go to the second stage? ^Return to top^
When we have reached the
beginning of this stage, there is a profound reliance on God, yet we are still
learning how to experience his personal love for us in daily life. This is when
we begin to recognize the beauty and humanity of Jesus Christ and his Body enfleshed in the people who surround us—in our spouses,
families, friends and strangers. Now we want to get closer to his Presence in
them. The saints call this the "illuminative stage" or "mystical
espousal." Are you ready to dance?
Once purified, the Lord
begins to share his light with us. In the Illuminative
Stage of the Intimate Path,
there is an intimacy that grows deeper and more mysterious as the Lord reveals
his divine life and love.
This fully human experience becomes an amazing Dance between each human person and the One who is making himself
increasingly present. As our intimacy with Christ grows, we begin to recognize
his Touch in the people who surround
us. His Kiss is experienced in the
joy and fulfillment that comes with living more closely with his Presence in
them.
·
Dance (vs. Sitting on the Sidelines)
When
we trust the Presence of God—really trust him with everything in our lives—he
begins to trust and love each of us more and more personally. This mutual swirl
of trust begins an astonishing dance of life and love with the real flesh and
blood people in our lives. As we take care of their needs, experience their
joys, apply what we have learned through Revelation to their lives, suddenly we
begin to recognize in them the Body we are dancing with! Jesus Christ. The
Risen One. Slowly, gently, all of life becomes filled with joy simply because
we are attached to him. The rich young man in the Gospel of Matthew was living
the first stage of a life with Yahweh, but could not detach himself enough from
his "stuff" (possessions, wealth, power, career, personal plans) to
enter into this deeper experience of friendship with Jesus Christ. Perhaps the
young man would not dance because he was afraid that his heart would not be
completely fulfilled by such a mysterious offer of relationship. Is your heart
afraid of the Lord's touch?
·
Touch (vs. Recoil)
Dancing-following
Christ's lead-moves our lives according to his rhythm, instead of our own.
The first glimpses of the Presence that we saw in Attention become more
evident. During his earthly life, Christ often used touch to heal with his
love. In the same way now, he touches parts of us that only he can reach, heal
and strengthen. He reveals himself in deeper, more significant ways as the
relationship grows in intimacy. As this happens within us, we begin to
recognize the suffering Christ in the wounded people who surround us, as well.
Now, with the power of his grace, we are not afraid to allow him to touch any
aspect of human life—through us. We experience a growing peace and great
consolation in every situation and circumstance. . . just as if we had received
a tender kiss.
·
Kiss (vs. Turning Away)
A
kiss is a defining moment in the life of any relationship. In many ways, it is
the most tender touch, communicating a deepening of love that words can never
convey. At this stage, we would do anything for the Lord. We yield to his love
and long for an even deeper experience of his intimate life. This is the same
fierce desire for union that has been experienced—and expressed—in the life of
the Church by her greatest lovers, the saints and martyrs. It is significant to
note that Judas' decision to use the kiss of intimate friendship to identify
Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane was the ultimate mockery of the Lord's full
offer of love to him personally. Christ understood Judas' kiss as a refusal to
go to the final stage.
Here we have reached a stage
of intimacy where we allow Christ to live fully in us. We are one in heart, soul,
body and mind. We bring his life to others and fully receive him in them. The
saints call this "unitive" phase the
"mystical marriage." Now we can say with Saint Paul: "It is no
longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). Are you ready
for real passion?
When we have been illuminated by Christ's life and
love, the Lord in the Unitive Stage of
the Intimate Path offers us the fullness of his Passion, Surrender
and Union of life and love with his Father.
·
Passion (vs. Tepidity)
The
passion of Christ was a complete yielding to the Other. Christ followed the
will of his Father and passionately abandoned himself on the Cross out of
ardent love for each person. This level of passion blows us away, in a
self-giving that the world barely recognizes. This same selfless "for
you" is how we are now able to love the truth of each human person we
encounter. Holding nothing back, we can love others as passionately as he loves
them. This kind of passion requires complete surrender.
·
Surrender (vs. Fight)
When
we love like Jesus Christ, our lives become a pure surrender to the will of the
Father in every situation and circumstance. Surrender is the fullness of the
original Assent, given now in intimate love and knowledge of the Beloved. It is
a complete self-emptying surrender that yields heart, mind, body and soul to
everything that the passionate love of Christ asks of us, in fulfillment of the
Father's will. Now we can say and really mean: "Thy will be done."
This surrender leads to a cosmic union!
·
Union (vs. Separation)
Unlike
bodily human union where the two eventually separate again, the Lord does not
separate from us. He is eternally present, interiorly with us at every moment.
No sorrow, no tragedy or death will be encountered without him. The fruits of
this union are inner peace, security, freedom and fulfillment. Everything in
our lives is new. In union with the Father and Son through the work of the
Spirit, we begin our eternal life of love here and now.