"We have mentioned here the 'night of the spirit,' the great trial of passive purification, by means of which God works in the very depths of the soul, and thus prepares her for the supreme ascent and final transformation. This trial is a terrible one, a veritable purgatory here below, according to St John of the Cross, who has described the anguish of this suffering in immortal pages. Spiritual directors generally feel powerless to comfort the soul in this phase of the spiritual life. God holds her under his chisel, and sculpts her as he wills. He alone has inflicted her wounds; therefore he only can cure her." page 51
I think too often our internal voices become the voices of Job's friends. They accuse us of sin, doing evil, abandoning God. And we begin to believe these voices. Hiding in shame.
"But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, 'Where are you?' And he said, 'I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.' He said, 'Who told you that you were naked?...'" Genesis 3:9-11 RSVCE
We hide because our nakedness makes us ashamed.
Instead, we should confess our nakedness like Peter: "And he said to him, 'Lord, you know everything;...'" John 21:17 RSVCE
I went off on a tangent however. It isn't our nakedness that we should be embracing here, however it is our God. God is who can heal the Dark Night's of our soul. When we find ourselves in this, lean on Exodus 14:14 "The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still."
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