Hope for non believers?

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TerryPaul

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If we as believers are brought through day and “dark nights” of the soul in order to find God, what hope is their that a non believer will find God when they are not open and looking?

Anybody have an uplifting story?

Thanks,
Terry
 
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TerryPaul:
If we as believers are brought through day and “dark nights” of the soul in order to find God, what hope is their that a non believer will find God when they are not open and looking?

Anybody have an uplifting story?

Thanks,
Terry
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I’m not altogether sure a non-believer would experience what we Christians, especially we Catholics, understand as the “dark night of the soul.” In order to have the DNOTS experience one has to first have an experience of God because the DNOTS is the abandonment of God (the feeling, that is not actual abandonment) that drives the believing soul to search all the more earnestly for God and to depend on him alone.

I think what you want is experiences non-believers have of God’s grace that led them to realize their need of God. Or am I entirely misunderstanding you? :confused:
 
I see what you mean … but then can I have a dark night of the soul? How close am I to God? Maybe I just have depression and I am using the term of dark night wrong and should just be left to people like Padre Pio … what do you think?

Second, I care about all people who have ever lived but my biggest pain / sorrow is connected to the people I love and know and family …

a week or so before my dad died, my sister and I were on the phone with each other and she accepted Jesus into her life in a new way but I told her that there would be trials ahead … well last Sunday dad dies and she has now rejected me and all family … the devil scores a point!

I long to talk to her again but she doesn’t want to be found … she said she wants to go back to the life she once led … how can God reach her if she doesn;t want to be reached … not even for my sake but for her’s …
 
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TerryPaul:
I see what you mean … but then can I have a dark night of the soul? How close am I to God? Maybe I just have depression and I am using the term of dark night wrong and should just be left to people like Padre Pio … what do you think?
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Depression can seem like the spiritual experience of the dark night, but it’s a spiritual, not an emotional suffering. A good spiritual director could help you sort out the difference in your life.
Second, I care about all people who have ever lived but my biggest pain / sorrow is connected to the people I love and know and family …
Click to expand...
a week or so before my dad died, my sister and I were on the phone with each other and she accepted Jesus into her life in a new way but I told her that there would be trials ahead … well last Sunday dad dies and she has now rejected me and all family … the devil scores a point!
Click to expand...
I long to talk to her again but she doesn’t want to be found … she said she wants to go back to the life she once led … how can God reach her if she doesn;t want to be reached … not even for my sake but for her’s …
Click to expand...
Well, she’s just going through her own form of grief. Be kind and understanding. Just tell her that you love her no matter what she decides to do with her life and always will and that you are grieving too. Sometimes people can feel very alone in their grief. Perhaps a grief support group might help her sort out her feelings and get her life back on track. God bless her and you–I will remember her in my prayers and ask the Carmelite Sister of Sacred Heart Monastery to pray for her, too.
 
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