I have three saints’ well maybe
four (not sure about Julian of Norwich, if shes a saint), saints that I follow,
St. Francis, St Teresa of Avila and St. John of the cross. Three out of the
four are known mystics; perhaps St. Francis was a different type of mystic. But
anyways, I have been studying for CPE as well as personally about Dark Night of
the Soul. I thought that I would share
with you my thoughts on dark nights of the soul. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Night_of_the_Soul
provides an overview. But I have more where that comes from!
I felt very
connected to the town of Avila when I was there many years ago and could not
explain. As I learned more about her I
came to know St. John as well and knowing that the deep separation from God
that I had felt many times was not some freak thing that was happening to me.
But rather I was one of many, many people, saints, sinners, great thinkers, and
average folks throughout the ages who knew the obscure time. I feel as if I
might be one of those persons whom were born with the awareness of the longing. For me the multiple dark nights have always
been a powerful redirection and reorientation in my life, but the experiences
have always been incredibly painful during the process, and in the reentry
process. There is no length that a Dark
Night must be or a maximum of when it must be over. Periods of dark night are
also not uncommon over someone’s lifetime.
 |
| A view of a dark night |
To better
understand the dark night of the soul has helped me to reframe and create new perspectives
on life. The obscure nights helped me to learn how to be ok to be angry with
God and to know that the pain is real and not imagined. I also feel that it
helped me to understand and fully see the deep pain that is all around us, but
that the pain is from humans not being able to know or even sense that deep connection
that was embedded into them from God’s whisper into the dirt.
