This short chapter introduces the meat of the chapters to follow, reminding the reader of the lines to be examined: In darkness and secure, By the secret ladder, disguised -- oh, happy chance! In darkness and concealment, My house being now at rest.

Our soul is freed to experience God more fully and purely when the "members of our house" -- our external senses and desires and internal voices -- are quieted by being "at rest." In the dark night, not only is our soul deprived of usual road signs, but the noise of our spirits and lives are quieted by the experience of the dark night itself.

This night enkindles a burning love in the soul, the contours of which are illumined by biblical examples, especially Mary Magdalene's love of Jesus Christ.

St John of the Cross explains that various moments of the dark night might feel more or less blessed, more or less desperate, more or less loving, more or less dark. Our perception of the experience changes, though God's constance is sure.

St John of the Cross admits that the soul can come to believe or fear that it is beyond help or recompense in this dark night, that all goodness is over forever, but that this surrender can free the soul,

Using the analogy of fire consuming a log (to transform the log into fire itself), St John of the Cross illustrates the painful change which a soul undergoes in this dark night.

St John of the Cross shows through Scripture how it is that the darkness of this night of the soul brings the light which will illumine the path of any who survive it. We come to a deeper, truer sense of peace, of what's important, and of ourselves in God.

St John of the Cross details other afflictions common to the Dark Night -- especially feeling hopeless and lost in a dark spiritual cloud out of which nothing can escape (even prayers!). He also expresses the interplay of light and dark, and how God's light might seem to be dark in our souls.

Using passages from Scripture, St John of the Cross shows the commonality of a Dark Night of the soul, and how our forebears withstood the afflictions (Job 16:12-16, Lamentations 3:1-20, Job 12:22, Psalm 139:12, Psalm 143:3-4, Psalm 30:6).

Though the work of the dark night is God's own presence, the experience may be a lot of pain and suffering, as the "imperfections" and "habituations" are burned away to reveal the parts of us that are willing to face the fullness of God.