Spiritual aridity and dryness

[BarbaraTherese]

ewtn.com/library/Mother/MA04.htm

I found this a really excellent article on the subject of spiritual aridity and dryness…

Excerpt from DAWN ON THE MOUNTAIN—The Gift of Dryness in Prayer
Mother M. Angelica

Portion only of overall text:

……………”……………This is but a faint picture of dryness of soul and the beautiful work it accomplishes. There are times in life when God seems very close. The sun of His Love shines brightly. Our hearts exult and our being is rapt in the joy of His Presence. There are other times however, when His Presence fades away like a morning mist and we find ourselves shivering from the cold. Though the whole world were to love and applaud us it would all be as nothing, for the sunshine of our life—God—seems gone, and our soul cannot be consoled except by Him.

Though our poor human nature rebels at this state of soul, it realizes that somehow great work is being accomplished. The silent Hand of God moves on, purifying the faculties of our soul, detaching us from possessions, people, and ourselves, raising us to various heights of prayer and increasing our capacity for love………….”……………

 

[quiet52]

Thank you for the link Barbara Therese.

Faith tells us that God is present when we pray and Hope tells us He listens, but only Love makes us continue to pray when darkness, boredom and even disgust fill our souls to overflowing. Only a true love will persevere in praying despite darkness and confusion.

It’s easy to forget that we NEED to pray to the One who IS love, in order to truly love. How can we truly love Him and others in this world unless we seek to stay in relationship with the Source? I’m writing this for myself, btw.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Thank you for the link Barbara Therese.

It’s easy to forget that we NEED to pray to the One who IS love, in order to truly love. How can we truly love Him and others in this world unless we seek to stay in relationship with the Source? I’m writing this for myself, btw.

Thank you! I sure need a reminder now and then in dryness and aridity…that despite what I feel, God remains the same God I pray to most ardently in consolation.

Blessings - Barb
iHs

 

[ncjohn]

This gets back to the idea of the providence of God: that all is done for our benefit, knowing how even the suffering will be used both to bring us toward Him and to benefit the world.

I have gone through fairly extensive “dry periods”, one that lasted nearly a year after having experienced a great spiritual “high”. I have been blessed since then to be able to continue my prayer even in those times, saying something to the effect “I know that you haven’t moved, but that somehow I have. I know that you are with me even though I don’t see or feel you right now.”

I then continue with my prayer and my readings, even though they often feel totally worthless and meaningless. But I know that in doing so I am doing the very things that will keep me in touch and will help to ultimately bring me back out the other end of the tunnel.

We live in a world where the committment to relationship is relatively shallow. At the first sign of trouble in a relationship, we just “fall out of love” and cut and run, rather than doing the work necessary to mend or continue the relationship. We see that in marriages and we even see it with family relatiionships where people just “write off” their kids.

I think a large part of that is that we are not taught faithfulness, either toward each other or toward God. And it seems to be harder and harder to find people who model that. My wife and I were both blessed to have had parents and grandparents who did the “til death do us part” thing and modelled the hard work that relationship takes. It’s time now for me to do the same for my kids and grandchildren, and hopefully start the ripples back in the other direction.

Peace,

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Quoting NCJohn:

This gets back to the idea of the providence of God: that all is done for our benefit, knowing how even the suffering will be used both to bring us toward Him and to benefit the world.

Hi John…Since the rest of your Post tells that you have gone through these “dry” patches, I know you will insight that persevering through these patches is not as easy to effect as to write - to resign oneself lovingly and faithfully to God’s Loving Providence under all circumstances without exemption and most especially if this dryness continues over an extended period. Quite often in writing a post I am very conscious of how easy it is to write the concept…and so very difficult to actually put that concept into practise and I am quite sure you know this also - yet the concept is valid even under the most difficult circumstances - and again, very easy to write.

Blessings with Peace, John, and warm regards…Barb