Exhaling

San Juan de la Cruz

St. John of the Cross,
be our guide on our ascent of Mount Carmel.
Teach us the Via Negativa,
in which we desire nothing for ourselves
because we are so in love with Love
that nothing else will satisfy
and we will allow nothing else to distract.
Because we know that all is Love’s.
And Love, at its summit,
mysteriously crucifies,
is crucified,
embraces crucifixion.
Help us climb to the height
at which we see at last
that beyond the dark, beyond the pain,
there is only Love.