Thursday, January 09, 2014
Pain and the Journey
Your Particular Pain
One of the major insights in Evelyn Underhill's great work "Mysticism" (an essential guide for anyone on a deep spiritual path) is that there are times of despair as well as joy on the journey. These "dark nights" can occur even after the period of initial awakening and exultation. Sometimes these "dry spells" are even more painful than the original dark night which precedes awakening, for they occur after the soul has "tasted" God. The aspirant feels that somehow she has failed a critical test, and has been found to be unworthy as a candidate for Divine Love.
These periods of pain and separation are apparently inevitable and occur even in the lives of the saints themselves. Often they occur following a time of "highs." (Spiritual hangover?) However, they are generally temporary, and the familiar state of oneness will likely return before too long.
Hold on to your particular pain.
That too can take you to God.
Rumi
Only a moment ago
I was floating beneath
waterfulls,
basking
in their flower scent.
Now I am standing
in a desert,
where nothing blooms
and no sound is heard.
I do not know
how I got here,
when I may leave.
Now all I really want to do
is to try to remember
all that has passed between us,
and kneel and weep.
Dorothy Walters
January 9, 2024
