EXPLANATION: A SHORT STORY
St. John of the Cross' poem "Dark Night of the Soul" is about the painful experience that people endure as they seek to grow in spiritual maturity and union with God.
More specifically, it refers to the period of spiritual dearth that sometimes follows a period of exaltation. The Dark Night of the Soul can be brief or can last for many years. Mother Teresa was said to suffer from it for 45 years.
In this state, a person feels abandoned by God, even though he has been steadfast in his spiritual practice. He has done everything today that he did yesterday, but now there is nothing. And it feels like there will be nothing for the rest of his life, leaving him in deep despair.
His blog came to a screeching halt, not because of something he decided or because of something it decided, but because of something God decided. So it felt to him.
More specifically, it refers to the period of spiritual dearth that sometimes follows a period of exaltation. The Dark Night of the Soul can be brief or can last for many years. Mother Teresa was said to suffer from it for 45 years.
In this state, a person feels abandoned by God, even though he has been steadfast in his spiritual practice. He has done everything today that he did yesterday, but now there is nothing. And it feels like there will be nothing for the rest of his life, leaving him in deep despair.
His blog came to a screeching halt, not because of something he decided or because of something it decided, but because of something God decided. So it felt to him.
posted by Donald L. Simons at
4:11 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home