Thoughts Inspired by St. John of the Cross

“Strive to preserve your heart in peace; let no event of this world disturb it.” - St. John of the Cross

I think in order to preserve peace in your heart one needs to be detached from the world. But when I think about detachment, for me, it’s not just detachment from the material world, possessions, accomplishments, etc. It goes a step further. Saint John of the cross really inspires me when he talks about detachment from our desires. About a year ago, I was really upset about not being able to go on a year of missions, even though that was a good desire, it was still important for me to learn to detach from desires no matter how noble the intention may be. The thing is we’re always going to struggle, and like he says we’re going to be swimming against the current, but it is worth being detached. And like the leaves that fall down from the trees in Autumn, there is a certain melancholy feeling and pain we encounter when striving to be detached from our opinions, our desires, our ideas, our imagination, our memories, expectations, etc. That struggle is a glimpse of what happens at the moment of our death, there is a longing to still be part of the material world and it is at war with the deeper desire for the eternal. Both will cause pain, attachment to the world and the yearning for heaven. What will we choose? 

Lord teach me to be detached no matter how difficult. Help me travel lightly on my journey to heaven.