INTRODUCTION

One of the most painful, perplexing yet powerful pathways on our journey into God has been termed  ¢â‚¬Å“dark night of the soul ¢â‚¬ .   John of the Cross a 16th Century Spanish mystic, poet and spiritual director coined this phrase after his experience of feeling forsaken by God while in prison.

This is a common human experience for those well advanced on the journey of faith.   Prophets and mystics, pilgrims and poets, artists and artisans, many have witnessed to an experience of darkness, dryness, emptiness, a felt absence of the comforting presence of God.   Some have called it a  ¢â‚¬Å“desert experience ¢â‚¬ .   Other words that might describe this place are  ¢â‚¬“ obscurity, confusion, a trial of faith, silence of God.   Many have travelled this pathway but it often feels very lonely as we struggle to find meaning.

**   What words might you use?

WHAT IS THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL?

In mystical terms this is the  ¢â‚¬Å“apophatic way ¢â‚¬  (or via negative) as opposed to the  ¢â‚¬Å“cataphatic way ¢â‚¬  (or via positiva).   The one points to mystery and obscurity, the prayer of contemplation;   the other to more active prayer and often an emphasis on social justice.   Both ways are good, they are just different.   In the apophatic tradition the psalmist laments:    ¢â‚¬Å“I am like a wild bird in the desert, like an owl in abandoned ruins ¢â‚¬ ¦you picked me up and threw me away ¢â‚¬ ¦ I am like dry grass. ¢â‚¬    Ps.102.

In practical terms this crisis of faith is usually triggered by a traumatic or stressful event:   the death of a loved one, a breakdown in health, loss of livelihood, an experience of rejection or betrayal.   Some have witnessed that the old ways of praying and being in the world leave one unsatisfied and with a deep longing for union with God (sometimes called  ¢â‚¬Å“the exchanged life:   Gal.2:20)   In effect the old structures of our lives are broken up and there is an inward repatterning when God becomes the new centre.   (Anybody been there?   What does it feel like to have old structures broken up?) **Read David Tacey ¢â‚¬â„¢s comment on the  ¢â‚¬Å“left-handed path ¢â‚¬  into depth and spiritual growth.

The PASCHAL MYSTERY speaks of this journey as Death, Waiting, Resurrection.

** What is it like for us to wait for God not knowing if he will come?

Thomas Green in When the Well Runs Dry suggests that we want to turn God on and off like a tap, to have control of his coming  ¢â‚¬“ but we have to let him be  ¢â‚¬Å“the Lord of the encounter ¢â‚¬ .

WHAT THE DARK NIGHT IS NOT

The dark night overlaps but is different to primary depression according to psychotherapist Gerald May.   As he accompanied people through the dark night he observed at some level a sense of  ¢â‚¬Å“rightness ¢â‚¬  about what they were going through.   He observed the person ¢â‚¬â„¢s general effectiveness was not as impaired as those in depression.   However, he states that people sometimes experience the dark night and depression at the same time.   The dark night can be depressing!   Although most of the experience feels liberating, it involves loss, and loss involves grief and grief may be temporarily depressing.

PROBLEM OF SUFFERING/IMAGE OF GOD

Our concept or image of God may be changing as we struggle with the problem of suffering.   We may cry to God:    ¢â‚¬Å“Why have you abandoned/forsaken me? ¢â‚¬     ¢â‚¬Å“What have I done that this should happen to me ¢â‚¬     ¢â‚¬Å“What kind of God are you?   Are you there at all? ¢â‚¬    Some may feel anger towards God and this is quite understandable and healthy.   (VIEW: two points of view on suffering).

TWO NIGHTS

John of the Cross identifies two distinct  ¢â‚¬Å“nights ¢â‚¬   ¢â‚¬“ dark night of the senses and dark night of the soul.   Some have termed these 1^st and 2^nd crises.   The first is common to many, the second to few.   The first purges our sensual attachments (or the branches of the tree);   the second goes deeper to our roots and purges the attachments and disorders of the soul.

(A case history:   Thomas Keyte)

WHAT ¢â‚¬â„¢S HAPPENING AND HOW LONG WILL IT LAST

A transformation is taking place deep in our soul/psyche.   Some have called it ego-stripping.   It may last up to 2 years or even longer.   It ¢â‚¬â„¢s painful and confusing:   like Jesus our humanity begs for release.

It is holistic: mind, body, psyche and soul may be impacted, and we will need a good spiritual director.   However we are not tried beyond our strength and held firmly by a compassionate and merciful God who gives times of respite and beams of light.   Julian of Norwich  ¢â‚¬“  ¢â‚¬Å“The cur is this, God is with us guarding us and guiding us into fullness of joy ¢â‚¬ .

WHAT ARE THE GIFTS

Isa 45, 2.   I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the lord who called you by name, am the God of Israel ¢â‚¬ 

Some gifts experienced are identification with Jesus in his suffering, death and resurrection (the one who shares his suffering shares also his glory);   our prayers to be more like our Lord are being answered;   also a transformation process is taking place (true self emerging out of a dark  ¢â‚¬Å“cocoon ¢â‚¬ ).

What else?   Gerald May speaks of this potential transformation (VIEW ON OVERHEAD)

Both John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila stress that the whole purpose of the dark night is to bring us to  ¢â‚¬Å“union with God ¢â‚¬ .

 ¢â‚¬Å“It is in the soul ¢â‚¬â„¢s free and true yes to God that God freely and truly gives the yes of divine grace. ¢â‚¬    The Living Flame of Love St John of the Cross.

WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID

 ¢â‚¬Å“There is only one way out of the struggle and that is by going in to its darkness, waiting for the light and being open to new growth. ¢â‚¬ 

—     Joan Chittister

 ¢â‚¬Å“It is only as we look back on this whole process that we can see that this terrible stripping was the gift of a gentle Father, a gift that was right on the mark, for it touched us exactly where we needed to be changed ¢â‚¬          —     Thomas Kane

 ¢â‚¬Å“The confusion and the suffering that you have plays an important role, because enlightenment and happiness and insight are only possible on the basis of suffering and confusion.   The Buddha said it is because of the mud that the lotus (or soul flower) can bloom.

—         Tich Nhat Hanh

Peggy Jones  ¢â‚¬“ 22/8/2012