Dark Night of the Soul

Climbed the first mountain, chasing a goal,

Reached the peak—power, success, control.

The world at my feet, yet my heart felt small,

Proud, yet empty—was this all?

Higher the climb, the harder the fall,

From saint to sinner—ego’s call.

From light to shadow, from rise to stall,

Ashamed, unmoored—nothing at all.

Into the valley, the Dark Night unfolds,

Wandering lost, no map to hold.

Walls unending, silence cold,

Vulnerable, stripped of control.

Spirit of Idolatry—I clung to the old,

Image, influence, independence—idols of the soul.

On my Damascus road, “kicking against the goad,”

Afraid to surrender, yet longing to fold.

Spirit of Blasphemy—rage took its toll,

Cries unanswered, echoes on stone.

Bottom of the pit, forsaken, alone,

Abandoned, betrayed, marrow to bone.

Spirit of Confusion—reason unsewn,

Knowledge exhausted, faith overthrown.

Shattered stained glass, relics unknown,

Dizzy, undone—adrift, alone.

Dusk of the Night—falsehoods must go,

Masks and illusions crumble below.

“Necessary suffering,” the crucible’s glow,

Crushed beneath grace—nothing to show.

Midnight’s abyss—no guiding light,

A valley of death, swallowed in night.

Hope is a whisper, fading from sight,

Is this my Sheol, my soul’s final flight?

Yet dawn awaits beyond this toll,

A banquet prepared, a dance for the soul.

A Lover calls—His voice takes hold,

Thirsting, yearning—to be made whole.

In darkness, sight—blindfolded, I see.

In silence, sound—emptiness speaks.

In loss, I find—my soul set free,

Luminous darkness, Love’s great mystery.

“I AM both sanctuary and stumbling stone.”

“First there is the fall, then recovery from the fall—

Both are mercy,” the voice recalls,

Humbled, in awe, before the All.

Behind me, my first mountain—stories of old.

Before me, a second, yet to be told.

Through failure, through falling, the journey unfolds,

Embracing the Mystery—Dark Night of the Soul.