Embrace the Darkness
- heartsinger1
- Jun 12, 2020
- 2 min read
"You ought not to be grieved and upset when your way is obscure and there is darkness around you. Nor are you to suppose you are lacking in the presence of God, that He has left you or does not love you...the light you formerly possessed must not be seen as some great loss. It is not...see these times of darkness as a happy darkness...persevere in your inward pursuit. God, in His infinite mercy, is seeking to bring you into the inward path." Molinos
Today is the first reading by Molinos. He lived in Spain during the late 1600. He was a Quietist. He taught Christian to be indifferent to the negative things that befall them. Instead, be quiet before God and lean into the inward relationship.
Michael Molinos lived what he taught. At one point he was the most influential spiritual teacher in Europe. Certain groups in the Catholic Church feared him and were jealous. Eventually Molinos was found guilty of heresy, sealed in a dungeon, and died after ten years in solitary confinement.
I haven't experienced solitary confinement but I have experienced darkness. The pressing, heavy, soul crushing darkness caused by my own poor choices (sin) and the confusing, squeezing, spirit wrenching darkness from seeming separation from God.
The darkness caused by sin is easy to dispel: go to God, bring it into His loving, forgiving, cleansing Light. You may still have a mess to clean up in relationships or other consequences of your choices, but you aren't obligated to live under that darkness.
The second darkness is harder to dispel because it's not in your control. God has his timeline, and His purpose. It's best, as Molinos teaches, to 'persevere in your. inward pursuit.' Lean into the darkness. Avoid the temptation of staying near the weak light you still perceive. God has another level for you to experience. And it's not back up the stairs you came down. It's down into deeper darkness.
Even in the deepest part of the ocean, far from the effects of the sun, life exists.
The creatures that dwell in the blackest environment shine their own light.
Be encouraged by this and dive deeper.
It's dark where You've led me, Lord.
I can't see.
Is this Your plan to drive me into the deep?
It's quiet where You've led me, Lord
I can't hear.
Is Your plan to still distractions taunting me?
It's dark and silent but I will not fret.
I trust that You've led me here.
Molinos original work, The Spiritual Guide, has recently been put back into print.
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