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The Dark Night and Contemplation In late 2008 or early 2009, Herald Press (Scottdale, PA) will publish my book The Dark Night: A Gift of God. (To order my other book on Prayer Practices for Terrifically Busy People click on "Books" to the left.) Meanwhile, I offer the following summary of what the dark night is all about, and how it leads to the gift of contemplation. The dark night is a unique experience in the Christian life marked by three signs, all of which must be present at the same time: The dark night happens to many people sometime during their life of faith, from as early as the teen years all the way to the senior years. They can last a few months, or for many years. My own familiarity with the dark night comes from academic study, from working with many people who have experienced it, and from living through it myself several times. I include this page on my website because I researched the dark night and its resulting growth in contemplation for my doctoral work. People have been experiencing the dark night since biblical times, but John of the Cross (1542-1591) was the first person in Christian history to call this experience la noche oscura, usually translated into English as “the dark night.” For two reasons, I believe a better translation of la noche oscura might be “the obscure night.” First, many people in an obscure night whom I've worked with do not talk about being in darkness. Instead they talk about being in an obscure place which they don't understand and where things aren't clear to them. Second, in English usage “dark” can allude to something evil or immoral. But the obscure night is not evil or immoral! Instead, the obscure night is a gift from God through which we are shaped more fully into the image of Christ.
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