Authentic contemplation requires the purification of the three faculties: memory, intellect, and will. By analyzing the "riverbanks" of the soul, we distinguish between mere emotional impulse and the deliberate act of the will ordered toward Christ as its final cause.

• Understanding why St. John of the Cross prioritizes the triad of memory, intellect, and will as the principal seats of spiritual operation and their specific disposition via the theological virtues.
• An analysis of "mountains" (excess) and "lowlands" (defect) as the extremes of vice that pull the soul away from its supernatural end.
• Why venial sins and spiritual imperfections thrive in the “riverbank” state—acts that appear level but lack the right order and certitude of faith.
• How the humanity of Christ serves as the objective “mean” between extremes, providing the necessary framework for interpreting reality and neighbor.

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