"There is a darkness that we are all led into by our own stupidity, by our own selfishness, blindness, or by just living out of the false self. And there is a darkness that I believe God leads us through for our own enlightenment. In both cases, we have to walk through these dark periods by brutal honesty, confessions, surrenders, letting go, forgiveness, and often by some necessary restitution, apology or healing ritual. I still hear of Vietnam vets who feel they must go back to Vietnam and help some Vietnamese children to be healed.
Different vocabularies would have called these things acts of repentance, penance, mortification, dying to self, “making amends”, or even ego stripping. By any account it is major surgery and surely feels like dying (although it also feels like immense liberation). We need help and comfort during these times. We must each learn for ourselves how to be led by God and also by others. But how can we know the light, or deeply desire it, if we’ve never walked through the darkness?"
~From Richard Rohr, Hope Against Darkness: The Transforming Vision of Saint Francis in an Age of Anxiety
I know many of you think that God doesn't exist, or you think God is punishing you by letting bad things happen to you. I used to think that. I'm sure I was wrong, and think you are too. God never promised our lives would be easy. In fact, he assures us that if we believe in Him, there will assuredly be tough times ahead. However, he promises to always be at our side to help us through those challenging roads.
