Search results for ""author kees waaijman""

Mount Carmel, viewed as a holy place by Jews, Christians and Muslims, is where the prophet Elijah is venerated. For many centuries hermits have followed his example and monks regard him as their Father. During the crusades, around 1200 A.D., a small group of hermits settled around the spring of Elijah to lead a contemplative life there in silence and solitude. To the first Carmelites this geographic location was a mystical space in which to live in the presence of God alone. Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem, gave them a life rule (1206-1214) which, at the time of their expulsion by the Saracens in 1247, was adapted to new circumstances by pope Innocent IV. In consequence, the mystical space of Carmel with its contemplative life is experienced wherever they are given a place and God calls them. The commentary presents the Carmel as a spiritual model which is ideally suited as accompaniment on the spiritual journey of all who know themselves called to a life in God's presence in the desert of their life.

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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.

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