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WHY YOU MUST IDENTIFY DISORDERED ATTACHMENTS TO ATTAIN SPIRITUAL PERFECTION AND
UNION WITH GOD

 * 

ANDREW GNIADEK

3 min read

Attaining spiritual perfection and union with God requires doing things we at
first don’t want to do. One of these things is letting go of attachments that
keep us from doing what God calls us to. We often don’t recognize what we are
attached to, but the spiritual life requires identifying these attachments as we
strive for spiritual perfection and union with God.

This is sort of a silly example, but maybe you discern that God is calling you
to learn how to paint, but you really like watching TV in your free time even
when nothing particularly edifying is on. There is nothing wrong with watching
TV, but if you discern that you should learn how to paint instead of watching
TV, you need to detach from your TV time to start painting on a regular basis.

Maybe you succeed in taking painting lessons instead of watching TV for a few
nights, but then you go back to your old habit of watching TV, even though you
feel guilty about not doing what you think you should be doing.

In this example, you are struggling to detach yourself from watching TV. But you
know that if you could detach yourself, you would be free to learn how to paint
well, not just take a few lessons. As it is, you currently lack the freedom you
need to learn how to paint well; you feel tied down, unable to break away from
your habit of watching TV.

Your struggle in this example is a struggle with a disordered attachment. St.
John of the Cross describes the situation of a disordered attachment using the
metaphor of a bird tied by a thin thread or cord:

> It makes little difference whether a bird is tied by a thin thread or by a
> cord. Even if it is tied by a thread, the bird will be held bound just as
> surely as if it were tied by a cord; that is, it will be impeded from flying
> as long as it does not break the thread. Admittedly, the thread is easier to
> break, but no matter how easily this may be done, the bird will not fly away
> without first doing so. This is the lot of those who are attached to
> something: No matter how much virtue they have they will not reach the freedom
> of divine union. 1

This passage from St. John of the Cross affirms that even the smallest
attachment, such as watching too much TV, impedes our freedom to love God fully.

If God is calling you to something, even if it’s learning how to paint, you need
to be free to follow his call. Sometimes it’s when we are called to something
new that we realize we have disordered attachments that have gone unnoticed for
quite some time. When this happens, we must let go of those attachments so we
will have the freedom we need to do what God calls us to.

With this freedom, we can start building the virtues that God wants us to have
based on our personal vocation. This personal change helps us go through the
dark night towards spiritual perfection and union with God.


HOW TO LEARN MORE

To learn more about the Carmelite tradition in general, check out Midnight
Carmelite episodes through the player below and hit subscribe to stay up to
date!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 1. St. John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel, in The Collected Works of
    St. John of the Cross, trans. Kieran Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriguez, 3rd ed.
    (Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 2017), 143. ↩︎




GUIDES

 * The Dark Night of the Soul
 * The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
 * Our Lady of Mount Carmel
 * Carmelite Spirituality
 * Brown Scapular
 * Prayer
 * Spiritual Growth

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