This book argues that St John of the Cross as a multifaceted, `myriad minded man' is an Outstanding Christian Thinker. Within this book we shall encounter many facets of his genius for living the spiritual life: John as mystic, artist, theologian, psychologist and initiator of dialogue with other faiths, concluding that John can best be understood for Christians today as a `practical theologian' par excellence who offers clear and practical help to contemporary Christians in their journey to encounter with the Living Lord. John is the inheritor of the medieval tradition and he is our contemporary.<BR><BR>Like John's leap onto the city walls of Toledo, high above the perilous cliffs of the Tajo, so, the saint says, the Christian life must be a similar leap of faith `in darkness and unknown' as we take a deep breath, place our trust in God and let go into the full clear air alone at last and in terrifying wonder of God's loving embrace.<BR><BR>So, you are invited now to come into the night, not the cold, wet, dismal night of the North but the warm silky Spanish night of high summer full of delicate scents, murmuring sounds, strange birds, moths and insects and the light breeze `that wounds from the turret'. The dark night of a land often more Muslim or Jewish than Christian that, in our own troubled times, speaks once again of a means of reconciliation between the three children of Abraham.