I mean, there we go.
It’s the big question, isn’t it?
What if the Dark Night of the Soul is necessary?
Recently, I had a conversation with a delightful young person who went to school for ministry. They had tons of excitement and fervor and a willingness to serve. Overall, just a great person.
At one point in the conversation, they lamented how many people they knew who left the faith. These friends weren’t even on the sidelines; they were with just as much excitement, fervor, and willingness to serve.
How can someone be so “close” to God and yet end up walking away from all of it?
Great question.
It’s kind of a perennial question.
What struck me was how this young person went all the way through ministry school and did not hear that a Dark Night of the Soul was a necessary part of the journey. So, I began sharing about St. John of the Cross and the Dark Night of the Soul poem. You could tell it was somewhat landing, but there was also a bit of apprehension because it was pointing to a larger reality that demanded a different way of looking at the world, faith, and God.
Here is the thing…
According to St. John of the Cross, unless you have been through a Dark Night of the Soul YOU ARE STILL IN BEGINNER CHRISTIANITY. Essentially, you are still in elementary school and not yet in middle school, high school, or even college-level Christianity.
This is all because before a Dark Night of the Soul, we are all more attached to the “sweetness” of being near God but not attached to God even if there is no “sweetness.” And so, God systematically removes every “sweetness,” removes every crutch that we use to stand in faith, and leaves us in a complete free fall.
That complete free fall, without any sweetness, crutch, or ability to stand on our own is when we are thrown into absolute dependency upon God…
Or, in other words, faith.
