Paths to Contemplation - 41

The what and why of the Night of the Senses

As the soul continues to allow God to draw it more and more deeply into the life of God, there may come a time when aids to that transformation become obstacles to continued growth.  How can this be?  If some means of prayer causes my heart to burn with the love of God, if it induces tears to stream down by cheeks as I recognize my sinfulness or meditate on the Crucifixion, how can such a means be an obstacle to spiritual progress?

Consider a traveler on a journey to fulfill an important mission.  The traveler is well aware that the mission is important and that she still has a long road ahead of her before the mission can be completed.  But the traveler lodges at an inn and finds the bed so comfortable, the food of such excellence, and the diversions there so pleasant that she is loath to move on.  Indeed, she is so pleased with her accommodations that she begins to rationalize.  She tells herself that the mission is not so important after all, or that it is more important that she be well-rested before continuing, and, after a time, she may even come to believe that the inn itself was the goal of her journey and there is no need to go further.

The innkeeper, however, sees that the traveler is in danger of abandoning her mission because the inn is such a comfortable place to be, so he begins to make the stay there less comfortable.  He puts rocks in her mattress and instructs the cook to make her meals less tasty.  Gradually, the traveler became less and less satisfied with the inn and soon decides to renew her journey toward her intended goal.

The traveler in this parable is the soul which is journeying, with the help of God, toward union with God, this union being the mission God set for the soul from the time of its creation.  At the beginning of its journey, God may grant the soul great consolations and satisfying emotional experiences in prayer.  These consolations and emotional experiences, of course, are good for the soul at that point in its development, offering rewards and encouragement to stay the course.

But at some point these gifts may become obstacles to further progress.  First, the soul may become complacent, and even proud, thinking that it has reached spiritual heights when, in reality, it is still near the base of the mountain.  The soul may think that it has achieved its goal of holiness,  mistaking feelings of holiness for holiness itself.  She may even forget that it is God who must carry the soul further into God’s own life and come to believe that it is her wonderful prayer exercises that cause this transformation.

Fortunately, God is never deceived and is always merciful.  God wants the soul to draw the soul more deeply into his own divine life, and so he must wean the soul from the consolations and emotional satisfactions that have now become obstacles to further progress.  So like the innkeeper who wants the traveler to move on, he makes the soul’s stay at the point where she has arrived less comfortable.  God causes the soul to enter the Night of the Senses.