The gift of discouragement
Discouragement is a perfectly normal part of the spiritual journey. In the first half of the journey (which can go on for many, many years if not most of one’s life) we meet our discouragements with prayer, church attendance, and by reaching out to trusted friends for spiritual insight. We are consoled in our discouragement, and we carry on. This rhythm is just as it should be, and it is good.
Along the way, some among us enter into a stretch of the journey in which we become discouraged and all the formerly effective ways of praying and working our way out of the spiritual jam don’t work. Some even enter into a season, sometimes quite extended, in which there is a feeling of aridity and boredom with prayer. All the old tricks simply don’t work anymore. One still attends church and says his or her prayers, but they don’t provide the boost and consolation they once did. It can be embarrassing and even scary to admit this to friends, and when you do talk to trusted friends much of their counsel sounds tired and rehearsed.
John of the Cross describes this season of the journey as the dark night. In the dark night one is weaned off of all the tried and true consolations. It is as if the senses are being denied the feeling of God’s consoling presence. This manner of discouragement seems cruel. It feels like punishment. This is where the apostle Paul is when he pleads with Jesus to remove the thorn from his side. On his knees, with tears welling up in his eyes, Paul cries out three times, “Please. Please. Please.” Jesus says, “No. My grace is sufficient for you.”
Consider this: Paul’s discouragement is inviting this question from Jesus, “If none of your problems were ever solved, if you never get out of the jam you’re in, am I enough? If it was just the two of us, would that be enough? Could you find peace and even happiness if all you had was intimacy with me?”
Paul says, “Yes” and he grows close to God to the point where he proclaims - “I live no longer I, but Christ lives in me.” Can you get closer than that? Discouragement may be a gift. The next time you’re discouraged don’t move to assuage the pain too quickly. Ride it down to the depths and see what you find there.
For more on the Dark Night come join our Mystics Reading Group on Mondays at 5:30 pm in the worship space. All are welcome!
