What is spiritual darkness?
Benedict Groeschel describes it as "Any trying circumstance offering the opportunity to trust and confide in God is properly called a “darkness”. To take steps to trust are impossible without the acceptance of grace in the form of theological virtues.
We learn only in our darkness, when we come to the realization of our absolute insufficiency. We cannot do anything alone." It is a time to learn to trust and surrender and realize that without God, we are nothing.
When we learn to let go and let God, we may feel the pull to go back to our old ways-control Groeschel says “It may be that we are so accustomed to our own narcissistic melancholy, so guilt-ridden and attached to our own self-deprecation, that the very thought of being at PEACE in the light of God, is terrifying to us. For the more controlling individuals, it might precipitate into an identity crisis if we found ourselves at peace. And so we tarry along the way. We shrink back because we know that if we experienced real detachment and abandonment, we would have to give up our cherished ambitions, our earthly and spiritual goods. Like Israel, we would like to rejoice in being God’s servant, but we would like to keep control of ourselves... at least believe the lie that we are in control. And so, we must pass through darkness again and again until at last we surrender….
Benedict Groeschel describes it as "Any trying circumstance offering the opportunity to trust and confide in God is properly called a “darkness”. To take steps to trust are impossible without the acceptance of grace in the form of theological virtues.
We learn only in our darkness, when we come to the realization of our absolute insufficiency. We cannot do anything alone." It is a time to learn to trust and surrender and realize that without God, we are nothing.
When we learn to let go and let God, we may feel the pull to go back to our old ways-control Groeschel says “It may be that we are so accustomed to our own narcissistic melancholy, so guilt-ridden and attached to our own self-deprecation, that the very thought of being at PEACE in the light of God, is terrifying to us. For the more controlling individuals, it might precipitate into an identity crisis if we found ourselves at peace. And so we tarry along the way. We shrink back because we know that if we experienced real detachment and abandonment, we would have to give up our cherished ambitions, our earthly and spiritual goods. Like Israel, we would like to rejoice in being God’s servant, but we would like to keep control of ourselves... at least believe the lie that we are in control. And so, we must pass through darkness again and again until at last we surrender….
"I tell you that it is enough to recognize one's nothingness and to abandon one's self like a child in the arms of God." - st. therese the little flower
(quotations: Spiritual Passages book by Groeschel)
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