My sole occupation is love

My sole occupation is love

Saint John of the Cross, a Spanish mystic and poet, is known for his profound spiritual writings that explore the depths of divine love and the soul's union with God. One of his most famous quotes is "My sole occupation is love," which encapsulates his entire philosophy and way of life.

For Saint John of the Cross, love was not just a feeling or emotion, but a way of being and living in the world. He believed that love was the highest calling of the human soul, and that all other pursuits and occupations were secondary to the pursuit of divine love. In his writings, he often used the metaphor of the soul as a bride seeking union with her bridegroom, who is God. This imagery of love as a deep and intimate union with the divine was central to his spiritual teachings.

Saint John of the Cross believed that true love was selfless, sacrificial, and transformative. It required a total surrender of the self to the will of God, and a willingness to endure suffering and hardship for the sake of love. He wrote extensively about the "dark night of the soul," a period of spiritual purification and purification that the soul must undergo in order to be united with God. This process of purification was necessary in order to strip away the ego and all attachments to the world, so that the soul could be fully open to receiving the love of God.