Dark night

It's amazing how selfish our spiritual practices can be. If I feel good, I'll worship and serve God. If my life is being cared for, I'll worship and serve God. If God makes sense to me, I'll worship and serve God. If I believe in God, I'll worship and serve God.

But what will you do if those things aren't true? What will you do if you feel lousy, and if your life is falling apart? What will you do if God's ways do not make sense to you? What will you do if one say you realize that you aren't sure God exists? Will you still serve God?

Historically, some of the dearest and most passionate and committed servants of God have dealt with what St. John of the Cross called, "The dark night of the soul." On that dark night, you have to discover some deeper reason for serving God than getting your own needs met.

High Calling blogger L.L. Barkat writes poetically about her own dark night.

I hear that Teresa of Avila stopped praying for two years— years of struggle. She backed into a quiet corner and closed her mouth.

These days, I feel a little like Teresa. Silenced by a dark night of the soul. Dark night. I always thought that meant a time of suffering or depression, but I learned differently not too long ago. It can be just this... a fog, a confusion, obscurity, change, travel in the dark, unknowing. All because the journey has shifted. It is not always painful or negative, but clarity escapes us. Which I suppose could be painful if we fight it...Read More.

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• dark night of the soul
• prayer
• spirituality

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