Do not quench the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19 NIV)
When retirement was thrust upon me, a resolution I made was to read books I had wanted to read. One of those was “Dark Night of the Soul” by St. John of the Cross. I am still studying this mystical work. I admit that I will never fully understand it. CS Lewis discusses Christian mysticism below:
“I do not at all regard mystical experience as an illusion. I think it shows that there is a way to go, before death, out of what may be called ‘this world’ – out of the stage set. Out of this; but into what? That’s like asking an Englishman, ‘Where does the sea lead to?’ He will reply, ‘To everywhere on earth, including Davy Jones’s locker, except England.’ The lawfulness, safety, and utility of the mystical voyage depends not at all on its being mystical – that is, on its being a departure – but on the motives, skill, constancy of the voyager, and on the Grace of God. The true religion gives value to its mysticism; mysticism does not validate the religion in which it happens to occur.
I shouldn’t be at all disturbed if it could be shown that diabolical mysticism, or drugs, produce experiences indistinguishable (by introspection) from those of the great Christian mystics. Departures are all alike; it is the landfall that crowns the voyage. The saint, by being a saint, proves that his mysticism (if he is a mystic; not all saints are) led him aright; the fact that he has practiced mysticism could never prove his sanctity.”- CS Lewis
Post Script “The dark night of the soul comes just before revelation. When everything is lost, and all seems darkness, then comes the new life and all that is needed.” ~ Joseph Campbell, “A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living”
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