Sunday, April 25, 2004

This morning's lectionary discussion......   Read Psalm 30   It is interesting in the parallelism in Ps. 30:5 that the “weeping” that endures for the night is associated with God’s anger….i.e. “For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life....weeping may last for the night but joy comes in the morning”.    Q1. Why do you think that is?  Or, what do think the psalmist is trying to communicate by putting these two parallel statements together?   It is interesting that the word translated “anger” (Pa ‘aph af ) is the same word used to translate “face” (22 x’s) and  “nose or nostrils” (25 x’s)   Q2. Do we ever associate our dark nights with God’s anger or displeasure?  Why?   Read Jn. 21:1-19 & Acts 9:1-20 & Rev. 5:11-14   In each of the lectionary passages we see a reference to a “night” of sorrow (weeping but no answers) and/or seemingly fruitless labor or activity.  Sorrow/weeping may last for the night but joy comes in the morning, Saul’s night of blindness, Peter and others night of fruitless fishing, etc.   To St. John of the Cross, (mid late 16th century) the “dark night of the soul” was part of God’s bringing us to where we are ready for Him….. “INTO this dark night souls begin to enter when God draws them forth….. in order that, realizing the weakness of the state wherein they are…[and] the soul is strengthened and confirmed in the virtues, and made ready for the inestimable delights of the love of God.”   Q3. What are some ways you have entered into a “dark night” or a period of seemingly “fruitless labor”?   Q4. However while we are in them, dark nights are often distinguished by: pain without evident reason, situations where we have no solutions, situations where we are made to face serious fears that we have harbored,   Q5. When we are in a period of darkness we often assume that it was our sin, mistakes, wrong decisions, that brought us there.  IOW’s that it is our fault we are here.  Do you think that it is right/healthy to assume this?  Why?   Q6. What are some other “unhealthy” assumptions we can make about ourselves when we are in a dark time?  a.       No one else understands b.      I’m the only one c.       I’m flawed d.      It’s somebody else’s fault   Q6. What if our “dark nights” are part of the process that we “must” go through?  And, that we are no more to blame for being there than a child is for being at school?      Q7. What if God is the one who leads us into dark nights so that we might be made to see more clearly the truth of who He is and who we are in Him?  That, “realizing the weakness of the state wherein we are... and we are made ready for the inestimable delights of the love of God.”?  6:35:56 AM

comment []