What is the “Dark Night of the Soul”?
St. John of the cross coined the phrase in the 1500s. He saw it as the journey God brings us through to grow into union and communion with God. It was the process where character and strength occur in the life of a believer. “INTO this dark night souls begin to enter when God draws them forth from the state of beginners—which is the state of those that meditate on the spiritual road—and begins to set them in the state of progressives—which is that of those who are already contemplatives—to the end that, after passing through it, they may arrive at the state of the perfect, which is that of the Divine union of the soul with God. Wherefore, to the end that we may the better understand and explain what night is this through which the soul passes, and for what cause God sets it therein, it will be well here to touch first of all upon certain characteristics of beginners (which, although we treat them with all possible brevity, will not fail to be of service likewise to the beginners themselves), in order that, realizing the weakness of the state wherein they are, they may take courage, and may desire that God will bring them into this night, wherein the soul is strengthened and confirmed in the virtues, and made ready for the inestimable delights of the love of God. And, although we may tarry here for a time, it will not be for longer than is necessary, so that we may go on to speak at once of this dark night.”
Thomas Merton (1915- 1968) also spoke of the experience of the Dark Night. “If we set out into this darkness, we have to meet these inexorable forces. We will have to face fears and doubts. We will have to call into question the whole structure of our spiritual life. We will have to make a new evaluation of our motives for belief, for love, for self-commitment to the invisible God. And at this moment, precisely, all spiritual light is darkened, all values lose their shape and reality, and we remain, so to speak, suspended in the void.” “The most crucial aspect of this experience is precisely the temptation to doubt God himself. We must not minimize the fact that this is a genuine risk. For here we are advancing beyond the stage where God made Himself accessible to our mind in simple and primitive images. We are entering the night in which he is present without any image, invisible, inscrutable, and beyond any satisfactory mental representation.
The Dark Night of the Soul is a season. How long each person walks through it depends on God. It is a season of waiting. It is a season of brokenness. It is a season of soul searching. It is a season where we have more questions than answers. It is a season of searching for God. It is a season of crushing. It is a season of surrender. It is a desert season when God seems far away. It is a season of our death. It is a season of hope deferred. It is a season we want to escape. It is a season of loss.
The Dark Night of the Soul is also a season of growth. It is a season of transformation. It is a season of worship. It is a season of wisdom. It is a season of authority. It is a season of trust in God alone. It is a season of new life. It is a season of hope in the Word and promise of God. It is a season we must persevere. It is a season to learn that God is enough.
The Dark Night of the Soul was a common experience in the Bible although the phrase is not used. Joseph experienced his dark night in the dungeon as a slave. David experienced the dark night running for his life and hiding in caves. Paul was imprisoned. John was exiled. Peter was in prison. Jesus went into the desert.
No one chooses to enter the dark night. It is God who leads us into the dark night and it is God who will lead us out of the dark night. We overcome the darkness with the Light of God.
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