A Light in Dark Places
It should be the work of Christians who believe in the paschal mystery to help people when they are being led into the darkness and the void. The believer has to tell those in pain that this is not forever; there is a light and you will see it. This isn’t all there is. Trust it.
Don’t try to rush through it. We can’t leap over our grief work. Nor can we skip over our despair work. We have to feel it. That means that in our life we have some blue days or dark days. Historic cultures saw it as the time of incubation, transformation, and necessary hibernation. It becomes sacred space, and yet this is the very space we avoid. When we avoid darkness, we avoid tension, spiritual creativity, and finally transformation. We avoid God who works in the darkness-where we are not in control! Maybe that is the secret.
—Richard Rohr,
Everything Belongs
If you find yourself in a dark place—in the grip of depression, anxiety, addiction, or deep grief—know this: the darkness is not the end of your story. The paschal mystery—the death and resurrection of Jesus—tells us that even the darkest night can lead to morning. This pain, this void, this confusion you feel is not forever. There is a light ahead, even if you can’t see it yet. You are not alone. God has not abandoned you in the dark; in fact, it is often in the very place where we feel most lost that He is doing His deepest work. Trust that this is not all there is. Hold on.
We often want to escape pain, to leap past it, to numb or outrun it. But healing doesn’t come from avoidance—it comes from moving through the pain with honesty and grace. The dark seasons of the soul can become sacred space if we let them—places where transformation begins and where God meets us not with condemnation, but compassion. Don’t rush your healing. Grieve what needs to be grieved. Sit with the sorrow. But do so with the quiet trust that God is with you in the shadows and that the light is coming. Transformation often begins where control ends. Maybe that is the secret. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics