The “dark night of the soul” can be a terrifying time. It is as though the person meditating cannot pray in words or intentions.  It is a period of waiting; a true test of our willingness to trust absolutely in God even though we are not able to feel or sense the Presence.

The fright is all the more since we have left the security of our own desires and comforts.  We have given ourselves over to God, but God is seemingly not there. 

We have stepped into an abyss of nothingness and unknowing, and do not know how to find our way back.  Faith is challenged by the dynamic of the attempted encounter, with all lack of meaning and purpose without God.  

Past experiences and elations do not count for the present.  Each day meditation is a desert experience, dry without gratification or fruit.  

Perseverance seems to be the only course in a desperate hope that God will be restored in one’s life.  Yet there is a vague sense that God is there at the bottom of our fall from grace, ready to catch us at the last moment if only we can stay the course.

Perhaps this is the only hope during this period. 

Click to read The Dark Night of the Soul: Part 2 & Prayer of the Heart