In his book
Discovering the Human Person
, the late Polish philosopher Stanisław Grygiel describes his lifelong friendship with St. John Paul II. He tells of the many philosophical conversations they enjoyed while walking Polish mountain trails—discussions he calls “pathways of the truth.” Grygiel wrote his dissertation under Karol Wojtyła’s direction, and years later, when Wojtyła became pope, he called Grygiel to a position in Rome at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute. Grygiel taught there for nearly forty years. On their many mountain walks, the two friends often spoke of man and God. From time to time, they would interrupt their conversation with a silent prayer that transformed their “exchange of words into an attentive listening to the Word.”