Dark Night

Reflection 
A love story of a lover and his beloved. Separated by force, yet their love for each other will always bring them together.

"On a dark night,
Kindled in love with yearnings–oh, happy chance!–
I went forth without being observed,
My house being now at rest."

The beloved calls the lover to Him, to partake of a love so full, so beautiful that the lover could not resist. But then only under the stealth of the dark of night could the lover escape his captors for Him to be reunited with the beloved.

"In darkness and secure,
By the secret ladder, disguised–oh, happy chance!–
In darkness and in concealment,
My house being now at rest."

For most of us, the night can be threatening. In this darkness are our fears - the unknown, the uncertain, the dark secrets that we hope to hide in the dark, the pains, the past unresolved.

But it is also only in the dark that we would be able to see the light that beckons us, as a lighthouse to a ship. It is only in the dark that we are able to see the beauty of the light, as stars that adorn the heavens.

"Oh, night that guided me,
Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,
Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover,
Lover transformed in the Beloved!"

If we wish to experience God, the beloved, we must embrace the dark, face it, trusting that even in the darkest night God's light will shine as bright as a thousand suns.

We just need the courage to embrace the dark.

"I remained, lost in oblivion;
My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself,
Leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies."

This reflection on John of the Cross' Dark Night of the Soul was written on November 10, 2014 (11PM) during my novitiate at the Spring of Carmel in Quezon City. Photo is from thejustinbowers.com.

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