Review 2025.02.008
Reviewers Note: It is the beginning of 2025 and one of the skills I desire to grow in is that of writing book reviews (having never done this before). I am doing this so I can better hone my writing (and reading) skills as I seek to think more critically about the books I am reading. I am sharing on Goodreads for my own personal development. I know this will be something I am always growing in so if you actually read these, please be patient with me as I develop this skill. I will also receive constructive criticism if you desire to help me become a better writer (and reader). I plan to use this disclaimer for the entire 2025 year.
The Living Flame of Love by Saint John of the Cross
364 Pages
I stumbled upon a podcast a month or two back (currently 2025-03) that discusses in depth different books by different Christian mystics. One of the series was on this book by Saint John of the Cross. I had read two of his other books – Dark Night of the Soul and The Ascent of Mount Carmel – both of which I enjoyed. Both of which I did not get the fullness out of because I did a macro-reading but I did grow from them so I figured The Living Flame of Love would be good to read in conjunction with this podcast.
While I am not a big poetry guy, there are poems that resonate with me (Alone by Edgar Allan Poe being a big one). When I read the first stanza of this poem, it made me think but not really that deeply. Then as I read the author’s own explanation of his words, I was surprised by the depth of the stanza. I know from experience that you really have to sit on a poem and let the words resonate with you before you begin to really grasp the fullness of them so I should not have been surprised but I was. So did I sit on them? Nope. I continued on with a macro reading.
What am I saying? I suppose that I need to practice micro-reading. And that I should do so with this book and this poem. Will I be able to do this? That I do not know.
The book was much easier to read than Dark Night of the Soul. Granted, Dark Night was one of the first books on contemplation and Christian mysticism that I read so it was a foreign subject. Honestly it is still pretty foreign but I’ve read around 10 books by different authors now so I do have a little bit better understanding.
There was a break in the explanation of the third stanza to talk about the soul and spiritual director. At first I was a bit thrown off but when I got to the end, I wondered where I might be able to find a spiritual director for myself.
I looked back over the four stanzas to see if there was one that really affected me more than the others. Each one had their piece to play which I suppose is how poetry works. If you have any interest in contemplation or even just love a good Christian poet then I can recommend this book. I want to say “highly” recommend but I do not think it is fair to highly recommend books in this genre on a single macro-reading.