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Dark Night of the Soul - FlickerOfLight - 05-13-2024
This should be in a spiritual forum. It doesn't fall into religion, or even faith for that matter. This is a spiritual enlightenment. This was the best forum for it though, I guess.
I have been on my own spiritual journey for quite some time. Truth be told, I've been on this journey my entire life; only just now coming to realize it. It has been like falling asleep; slowly at first, and then all at once.
The deep spiritual awakening started in January of 2018. At first it was pure bliss, peace and joy like I've never known. Insight after insight. It was if psychic abilities started to awaken within me. I started to learn to control my environment. I was learning how giving my energy to people can affect them depending on the energy given to them. If i was charged up with a powerful energy of peace, every person around me was affected, and they too would rest in that peace. All these experiences were so wonderful and inspiring. I walked around on cloud nine, in total peace love and joy. I was spreading this around, and sharing these things with anyone and everyone. It was nirvana.
As things progressed I started to pass along wisdom I was learning and growing in. I'm a born teacher and so I began to teach. It was always those who were down on their luck, or lost in their journey, or just needed to feel loved and important. I had many people who came to me for a comforting word, or insight into themselves or their lives and paths. Many people came to me and were blessed by the very things that were blessing me. This too was nirvana.
As time went on a bit, and as I was seeing deeper into the truth, more and more lies were coming into the light. The curtain was being drawn back even further. I started to see the true wickedness of the world. The depravity of spirit in the world. The lack of compassion and love was becoming abundantly clear to me. My time of teaching was coming to an end. I started to see that people didn't like the truth. The more truth I spoke the more I was starting to be cast aside. Slowly at first, and then all at once. I found myself alone. The joy and peace were wavering as I became distraught by the lack of love in the human heart. I started to realize that it was not enlightenment people were looking for.
Isolation came...
As I sat alone I started to dive deep into meditation. I started exploring deeper into my mind. I was in depression now. The darkest deepest depression I had ever known. I wept for the world....and myself. I saw the darkest parts of my mind. The evil within me. The dark shadow of my mind and my soul. I hated what I saw. I saw myself for who I truly am, down to the darkest parts of myself. I found out I was angry. Fiercely angry at the injustices of this world. I was furious at all the suffering and pain. I was angry at people for their lack of love and compassion for one another. I had relived every pain I had ever felt. I had fallen into the darkest place I had ever been. As this was at its darkest, taking my own life came to mind. It was all too much. I felt I couldn't do anything to help or stop or change any of this. I had reached this realization, and I didn't like the world I was seeing....nor did I want to be a part of it anymore. I didn't like the evil that was inside of myself. I had hurt people even without the desire to hurt anyone. I wrestled with these thoughts for months.
And then the dawn came. Like watching the sky start to turn as the sun starts to bring light back to the sky after a long dark night.
I am in the dawn at the moment. Just before the sun comes up.
I am glad to see the Light again. I can't wait to see what this New Day brings...
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - NightskyeB4Dawn - 05-13-2024
I can relate.
At my lowest point I found peace in knowing I was not alone. I could feel the presence of God with me and I surrendered all to him.
I was lifted up, and it felt like I was flying on eagle's wings. I found joy in everything, even the pain.
I gave no thought to the landing. What goes up must come down. I rode high, I basked in the power and the light, feeling the joy of my flight. Forgetting the source of the wind beneath my wings.
As my progress began to slow down, and I began the slow descent, the depression came and I felt abandoned. I called out in my spirit, and it was as if God spoke back, in an almost humorous way.
It was like he was saying, "So now you remember me." "That was quick."
I found out very quickly that I was not getting very far flying solo, and was more than happy to let Jesus take the wheel.
Everyone's journey is different. We don't even run on the same fuel. When we are traveling the right path it seems like nirvana, when we verve off course we feel like we are lost.
If we stay off course for too long, we get hit with the dread of a crash landing. That dread intensifies if you have ever reached rock bottom before.
If you are aware of your surroundings and are tuned in, I don't think you can escape the ups and downs. With time and through life experiences you become more skilled at riding the thermals. That does not mean you won't hit some bumps along the way, it just means you get better at handling the highs and the lows.
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - FlickerOfLight - 05-13-2024
(05-13-2024, 10:28 AM)NightskyeB4Dawn Wrote: I can relate.
At my lowest point I found peace in knowing I was not alone. I could feel the presence of God with me and I surrendered all to him.
I was lifted up, and it felt like I was flying on eagle's wings. I found joy in everything, even the pain.
I gave no thought to the landing. What goes up must come down. I rode high, I basked in the power and the light, feeling the joy of my flight. Forgetting the source of the wind beneath my wings.
As my progress began to slow down, and I began the slow descent, the depression came and I felt abandoned. I called out in my spirit, and it was as if God spoke back, in an almost humorous way.
It was like he was saying, "So now you remember me." "That was quick."
I found out very quickly that I was not getting very far flying solo, and was more than happy to let Jesus take the wheel.
Everyone's journey is different. We don't even run on the same fuel. When we are traveling the right path it seems like nirvana, when we verve off course we feel like we are lost.
If we stay off course for too long, we get hit with the dread of a crash landing. That dread intensifies if you have ever reached rock bottom before.
If you are aware of your surroundings and are tuned in, I don't think you can escape the ups and downs. With time and through life experiences you become more skilled at riding the thermals. That does not mean you won't hit some bumps along the way, it just means you get better at handling the highs and the lows.
No worries. The Lord is in my heart and this was also a faith experience. It definitely brought me closer to Him.
As I am coming to understand this more and more, I start to see how the "death of the ego" was involved. How I faced the dark part of my personality. The parts of me I cannot change. I'm learning how this is to help someone except themselves on all fronts; not just the good parts of us. We all have an evil side in their somewhere. Dark parts of our minds. Usually we ignore these things. This dark night of the soul was me facing everything of myself. I even faced my doubts in my faith. I thought I had lost God for a while. I pondered on God for so long during this time. At its darkest moment, I considered if the devil had created this world, and everything I had read in the Bible was written by Satan to throw us off from finding God. I faced thoughts I never would have faced had it not been for this period of time.
I did come back to love and peace. I started to feel that warm embrace of the Lord. I felt his presence again. The Spirit of the Lord came over me like a warm blanket. I was not alone anymore.
I had accepted Christ a long time ago. I had been on a faith journey with all of this as well. God is every bit a part of this, but that side of it is for a different time. I am just now coming out of that darkness and back into the light.
Something just came to mind.
Remember in one of the original star wars movies, Luke Skywalker goes into a tree. He has to find himself in there or something like that. So he's in this tree and suddenly and slowly Darth Vader appears. Luke Skywalker faces off with Vader and strikes him down.
I was told once that this was a representation of a spiritual awakening/dark night of the soul references. After Luke had defeated Vader he pulls of Vader mask and sees his own face.
He was his own enemy.
A good interpretation imo.
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - SomeJackleg - 05-13-2024
reading the posts this verse from this tune came to mind.
Quote:Time was drifting
This rocker got to roll
Restless feeling, really got a hold
I started searching for a better way
and the tune and it's got more cow bell
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - NightskyeB4Dawn - 05-13-2024
(05-13-2024, 01:03 PM)FlickerOfLight Wrote: I did come back to love and peace. I started to feel that warm embrace of the Lord. I felt his presence again. The Spirit of the Lord came over me like a warm blanket. I was not alone anymore.
That does a good job of explaining it. Trying to explain it can be difficulty. Because His presence is ephemeral, yet it has a definite weight, that you don't just sense, but you can feel.
Being human comes with a lot of shortcomings. Working through them, overcoming them, making them work, may be why we can still be in good favor.
This conversation made me remember something. Way back. Way, way back, when I was in University, I was working a project in the lab. One of my classmates got an A on her project and I got a B-.
I was freaking out, because I knew mine was better. So I asked the professor why she got an A and I got a B-.
He told me that my classmate had done better than he had expected from her, but that I was capable of doing better.
I asked him if I could repeat the project, he asked me why I wanted to repeat the assignment. I told him I wanted to see if I could do it better. He told me I could repeat it, but I would keep my original grade.
I repeated the assignment, and realized I could do it better. My professor did not change the grade of the original project, but he gave me an extra grade for taking on the challenge of doing a better job on the in project, and another extra grade, for being able to identify why the original was lacking. So I ended up with an A+.
One important lesson I learned from my grandmother and reinforced by my professor.
"Any job worth doing is worth doing your best."
A little off topic, but our talk pulled this out a dusty corner of my memory.
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - FlickerOfLight - 05-13-2024
(05-13-2024, 03:21 PM)NightskyeB4Dawn Wrote:(05-13-2024, 01:03 PM)FlickerOfLight Wrote: I did come back to love and peace. I started to feel that warm embrace of the Lord. I felt his presence again. The Spirit of the Lord came over me like a warm blanket. I was not alone anymore.
That does a good job of explaining it. Trying to explain it can be difficulty. Because His presence is ephemeral, yet it has a definite weight, that you don't just sense, but you can feel.
Being human comes with a lot of shortcomings. Working through them, overcoming them, making them work, may be why we can still be in good favor.
This conversation made me remember something. Way back. Way, way back, when I was in University, I was working a project in the lab. One of my classmates got an A on her project and I got a B-.
I was freaking out, because I knew mine was better. So I asked the professor why she got an A and I got a B-.
He told me that my classmate had done better than he had expected from her, but that I was capable of doing better.
I asked him if I could repeat the project, he asked me why I wanted to repeat the assignment. I told him I wanted to see if I could do it better. He told me I could repeat it, but I would keep my original grade.
I repeated the assignment, and realized I could do it better. My professor did not change the grade of the original project, but he gave me an extra grade for taking on the challenge of doing a better job on the in project, and another extra grade, for being able to identify why the original was lacking. So I ended up with an A+.
One important lesson I learned from my grandmother and reinforced by my professor.
"Any job worth doing is worth doing your best."
A little off topic, but our talk pulled this out a dusty corner of my memory.
I've been out of the mind frame I was in stated in the OP. That was about a month ago now that I've come out of that "dark night."
Since then, I have been experiencing major synchronicity. I've experienced it before, but never this frequent, this strong, and this specific. This has been going on since I stepped out of that darkness. I could tell the universe (God) was showing me he was there, in his mysterious ways.
What you just wrote rung a bell...
My granny, and my mom, always taught me, "If you're going to do something, do it right....or don't do it at all." Is what they always said.
I learned and faced myself, my "flaws" and saw who I was from every angle. I realized that, a lot of times what we view as a burden, is actually a blessing in disguise.
My path now will involve me learning to use my "weaknesses" as my strengths.
I'm not sure how, at this moment in time, but this will be added to my Spiritual Walk.
When I read that last statement, it was if my granny had reminded me of that lesson; and how it applies here as well.
Thanks NightskyeB4Dawn. You're name represents where I'm at in this spiritual journey.
(05-13-2024, 03:12 PM)SomeJackleg Wrote: reading the posts this verse from this tune came to mind.
Quote:Time was drifting
This rocker got to roll
Restless feeling, really got a hold
I started searching for a better way
and the tune and it's got more cow bell
Lmao. That's one of my favorite skits, and I'm always asking for "more cowbell" from my associates. Lol
Good song too. Thanks for sharing that thought.
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - GeauxHomeLittleD - 05-13-2024
If you consider that the tiny spark that we call "soul" was intentionally placed inside a human body in order to experience the thing called "life" and that when "life" ends that spark returns to the collective bringing with it the knowledge and feelings of all that it experienced in order to enhance the collective then you realize that we are all here to experience all those things you have described. We must all experience light and dark, love and hate, wisdom and ignorance, compassion and apathy, pleasure and pain... the list goes on and on.
When we experience what we might consider "bad" feelings some think that we should fight against them. I'm not so sure we should do that. Maybe we should embrace them and just "be" in those times- for how can we truly know the light without having experienced the dark?
Just don't stay there. You have other experiences to master and your time is short.
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - FlickerOfLight - 05-13-2024
(05-13-2024, 04:04 PM)GeauxHomeLittleD Wrote: If you consider that the tiny spark that we call "soul" was intentionally placed inside a human body in order to experience the thing called "life" and that when "life" ends that spark returns to the collective bringing with it the knowledge and feelings of all that it experienced in order to enhance the collective then you realize that we are all here to experience all those things you have described. We must all experience light and dark, love and hate, wisdom and ignorance, compassion and apathy, pleasure and pain... the list goes on and on.
When we experience what we might consider "bad" feelings some think that we should fight against them. I'm not so sure we should do that. Maybe we should embrace them and just "be" in those times- for how can we truly know the light without having experienced the dark?
Just don't stay there. You have other experiences to master and your time is short.
Absolutely beautiful thought...
Reminds me of the yin and yang. The balance of light and dark; with a little bit of dark in the light and little bit of light in the dark.
I did some research afterwards about this. I was not even aware of the concept of "the dark night of the soul" until my research lead me there.
I realized I was on the right path. A good path. A path few will ever travel.
That too, was enlightening.
GeauxHomeLittleD, you know what I really came to?
Compassion.
Compassion for all.
I saw what so many go through. I felt the pain of the world. At first I was very angry.
Then I understood...
The deepest Compassion I've ever known was born in me; and it came from that "dark night."
It lead me to an even deeper form of Love. (I can feel it)
Thank you for your wisdom. Duely noted.
I wanted to add a thought I just had to this.
Something I ran across while studying on what had happened to me.
In the Bible, When Jacob "wrestled with God" one night until the sun started to come up, and the "angel of the Lord" he was "wrestling with" said to him, "let go of me." Jacob responded, "not until you bless me."
Some see this as a spiritual awakening. More specifically, some say this represents the "dark night of the soul."
And apparently that wrestling match tool place on "Mt. Pineal." And is where we get the word "pineal gland" or "third eye" or "seat of the soul."
I found this thought quite interesting.
Jacob even came out of it with a "new name." (And cracked hip)
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - NightskyeB4Dawn - 05-13-2024
@"GeauxHomeLittleD"#21 You are so right. We as humans are an impatient, stiff necked lot.
We find it difficult to be quiet and to be still.
When I was a pre-teen, my Mother taught me to stop being afraid and to stop running from the darkness and the unknown. The first thing that became obvious to me is that darkness is full of sound, there is no real quiet in the darkness, but you can find peace there.
The second thing I was able to do was to see. Once my eyes became acclimated to the dark, I was surprised at how much I could see.
@"FlickerOfLight"#259
Being the oldest of 10 children sort of imprints you for compassion and embeds you with a servant's heart. I find much joy helping others, especially those I don't know, because as good as I am at giving, I am really lousy at receiving.
I am a grateful for all that I receive, but inwardly I don't feel the same joy that I feel when giving.
My dear friend says that I am selfish, because I steal from others the joy of giving when I don't allow myself to receive.
After my stroke I was full of the feelings of gratitude at the true compassion, the thoughtfulness, and the generosity of my friends, family, neighbors, and church.
I learned what love, compassion, and generosity is truly about. Another one of those experiences where it would be seen as bad, negative, a curse, taught me so much and allowed me to see beyond to the beauty that is so often missed.
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - FlickerOfLight - 05-13-2024
(05-13-2024, 05:21 PM)NightskyeB4Dawn Wrote: @"GeauxHomeLittleD"#21 You are so right. We as humans are an impatient, stiff necked lot.
We find it difficult to be quiet and to be still.
When I was a pre-teen, my Mother taught me to stop being afraid and to stop running from the darkness and the unknown. The first thing that became obvious to me is that darkness is full of sound, there is no real quiet in the darkness, but you can find peace there.
The second thing I was able to do was to see. Once my eyes became acclimated to the dark, I was surprised at how much I could see.
@"FlickerOfLight"#259
Being the oldest of 10 children sort of imprints you for compassion and embeds you with a servant's heart. I find much joy helping others, especially those I don't know, because as good as I am at giving, I am really lousy at receiving.
I am a grateful for all that I receive, but inwardly I don't feel the same joy that I feel when giving.
My dear friend says that I am selfish, because I steal from others the joy of giving when I don't allow myself to receive.
After my stroke I was full of the feelings of gratitude at the true compassion, the thoughtfulness, and the generosity of my friends, family, neighbors, and church.
I learned what love, compassion, and generosity is truly about. Another one of those experiences where it would be seen as bad, negative, a curse, taught me so much and allowed me to see beyond to the beauty that is so often missed.
I give that a solid, "Amen."
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - NightskyeB4Dawn - 05-13-2024
@"FlickerOfLight"#259
Speak of synchronicity. I just ran across this quote.
[“We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.”
— Henry David Thoreau]
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - FlickerOfLight - 05-13-2024
(05-13-2024, 06:29 PM)NightskyeB4Dawn Wrote: @"FlickerOfLight"#259
Speak of synchronicity. I just ran across this quote.
[“We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.”
— Henry David Thoreau]
Love it
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - Ninurta - 05-13-2024
I think of a spiritual journey as a roller-caster ride. There are highs, and there are lows, but over time they tend towards one another and "flatten out" - it's just that that flattening out leaves you at a higher overall or average level than before.
I can only tell folks what I personally think, so don't take it as gospel or anything - your mileage may vary.
That first meeting, or "awakening" is like a jolt of electricity. You'll never know that same intensity again, because it's your first experience of it. It's overwhelming. You start thinking that you may be 10 feet tall and completely covered with hair... that you are somehow invincible. It's probably closer to truth to say that You will experience that intensity again, but that over time you will learn to moderate it so that you aren't overwhelmed again as at the first. You learn to temper it, taking knowledge from the lows to moderate the highs.
Most folks, maybe all folks, who experience it feel like they can "change the world", and when that world-change doesn't come, it leads to the first "low", a disappointment or depression that you're not having the effect that you thought you would have. But that, too, is a part of the learning.
Now, the way I personally handle it is to realize that I cannot change the entire world, only the parts of it that I can reach. I realize there are "Sons of Seth" as well as "Sons of Cain" populating the planet, and you will never reach the Sons of Cain. You will never change them, and it's a depressing effort to even try. They are not meant to be changed... they simply are what they are.
Part of that same realization is that contrary to modern Christian teaching, God is NOT "Love", nor does he love everyone. I don't care what they tell you in Church, that simply isn't true. That's just some hippy bullshit thrown into the mix to purposefully cause the enlightened to become depressed when they find they are not having the effect they think they should have. The Bible itself confirms this, for it is written that "God loved Jacob, but he hated Esau" - all the proof you need, really, that God does not "love everyone".
That's something we all have to come to terms with. God doesn't love everyone, and not everyone is going to want to change or "come to the Light". Attempts to force them to do so will inevitably be met with depression and anger. They're just not going to do it. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink, and assuming that you can destroys the entire concept of "free will". Some folks are just going to exercise that free will in ways that you do not, and never will, approve of, but it's THEIR free will to exercise, so you just have to let them go on their own way - you've already done everything you can for them. There are others around who may need the attention you are wasting on trying to convert the lost.
As I mentioned above, it's a roller-coaster ride. You may at some points reach the same intensity as that first encounter, but when you do, it will not "feel" the same, because that first time, you had nothing to compare it against. That's why it was so overwhelming. You'd never been there before, and it was all brand new.
Now, that's not necessarily a BAD thing, in my opinion. You can't get anything useful done while you are being overwhelmed, overrun by an emotional experience. You can only really experience it. It's in learning how to moderate or modulate that experience that we learn how to get things done, and that only comes through experience... so, you have to experience it. Both the highs and the lows. You have to learn how to handle EACH of those, not just the one or the other.
Also, keep in mind that you cannot "hate" those who make choices contrary to what your own might be. it's THEIR choice to make,not yours. They will go their way, and we have to learn to accept that. As it says, God allows the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the wicked and just alike - who are we to criticize that plan? We just have to accept it and move on to the next assignment, secure in the knowledge that we did what we could, we did our own job, and the rest is someone else's lookout.
After all, the joys the wicked have in THIS world are all the joys they are ever going to have, so who are we to try to steal that from them and force them onto a path they don't want to take? Let 'em go their own way. It's all they will ever have.
There's more, really, but I'm getting overrun with a new thought before I've put the last one to word, so this is where I'll stop.
.
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - FlickerOfLight - 05-13-2024
(05-13-2024, 08:51 PM)Ninurta Wrote: I think of a spiritual journey as a roller-caster ride. There are highs, and there are lows, but over time they tend towards one another and "flatten out" - it's just that that flattening out leaves you at a higher overall or average level than before.
I can only tell folks what I personally think, so don't take it as gospel or anything - your mileage may vary.
That first meeting, or "awakening" is like a jolt of electricity. You'll never know that same intensity again, because it's your first experience of it. It's overwhelming. You start thinking that you may be 10 feet tall and completely covered with hair... that you are somehow invincible. It's probably closer to truth to say that You will experience that intensity again, but that over time you will learn to moderate it so that you aren't overwhelmed again as at the first. You learn to temper it, taking knowledge from the lows to moderate the highs.
Most folks, maybe all folks, who experience it feel like they can "change the world", and when that world-change doesn't come, it leads to the first "low", a disappointment or depression that you're not having the effect that you thought you would have. But that, too, is a part of the learning.
Now, the way I personally handle it is to realize that I cannot change the entire world, only the parts of it that I can reach. I realize there are "Sons of Seth" as well as "Sons of Cain" populating the planet, and you will never reach the Sons of Cain. You will never change them, and it's a depressing effort to even try. They are not meant to be changed... they simply are what they are.
Part of that same realization is that contrary to modern Christian teaching, God is NOT "Love", nor does he love everyone. I don't care what they tell you in Church, that simply isn't true. That's just some hippy bullshit thrown into the mix to purposefully cause the enlightened to become depressed when they find they are not having the effect they think they should have. The Bible itself confirms this, for it is written that "God loved Jacob, but he hated Esau" - all the proof you need, really, that God does not "love everyone".
That's something we all have to come to terms with. God doesn't love everyone, and not everyone is going to want to change or "come to the Light". Attempts to force them to do so will inevitably be met with depression and anger. They're just not going to do it. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink, and assuming that you can destroys the entire concept of "free will". Some folks are just going to exercise that free will in ways that you do not, and never will, approve of, but it's THEIR free will to exercise, so you just have to let them go on their own way - you've already done everything you can for them. There are others around who may need the attention you are wasting on trying to convert the lost.
As I mentioned above, it's a roller-coaster ride. You may at some points reach the same intensity as that first encounter, but when you do, it will not "feel" the same, because that first time, you had nothing to compare it against. That's why it was so overwhelming. You's never been there before, and it was all brand new.
Now, that's not necessarily a BAD thing, in my opinion. You can't get anything useful done while you are being overwhelmed, overrun by an emotional experience. You can only really experience it. It's in learning how to moderate or modulate that experience that we learn how to get things done, and that only comes through experience... so, you have to experience it. Both the highs and the lows. You have to learn how to handle EACH of those, not just the one or the other.
Also, keep in mind that you cannot "hate" those who make choices contrary to what your own might be. it's THEIR choice to make,not yours. They will go their way, and we have to learn to accept that. As it says, God allows the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the wicked and just alike - who are we to criticize that plan? We just have to accept it and move on to the next assignment, secure in the knowledge that we did what we could, we did our own job, and the rest is someone else's lookout.
After all, the joys the wicked have in THIS world are all the joys they are ever going to have, so who are we to try to steal that from them and force them onto a path they don't want to take? Let 'em go their own way. It's all they will ever have.
There's more, really, but I'm getting overrun with a new thought before I've put the last one to word, so this is where I'll stop.
.
You just hit the nail on the head.
I had to accept God did not love everyone.
That hit me hard. I realized people I loved would not make it to the next life. I had to accept that most people would not understand the things I was going through. That it took the Holy Spirit to get me to this level. That I could not pass along most of what I was learning. That most of the people don't even want to hear it, and I had to get used to that feeling of being alone with these amazing wonders and miracles.
When people started to reject some of what I had to offer, as far as insight goes, there was a time I was questioning myself. Or what I had been going through, learning and experiencing.
As time went on and I am progressing forward and I can start to see that all of this was a good thing.
It took me a while with this though. I had it my mind to help. I have always done what I could, and I always will. It's who I've always been. But, had to accept that I couldn't reach even those that I love.
That took me a while. This was a cold hard fact that I had to accept.
I accept that everyone has their own choice, and everyone makes their own choice.
I did have a period where I tried to argue these insights to others.
I learned very quickly that was an exercise in futility.
I stopped.
I accept that this is my journey and my journey alone. Like you said, I will do what I can where I can.
I had made a decision coming out of this.
I wanted to master the art of silence. I have always been a quite type. The last few years I feel like I've been sharing way too much. Way too many pearls trampled. I will learn to master silence again.
Spot on, Ninurta. At least to what I've learned up to this point. With some extra insight from you, of course. That was inspiring to me in places. Especially the highs and lows. At first I thought I had lost it all when I hit that first low.
That first high, and that initial introduction/baptism of the Spirit was so awesome that there are no words to describe it. There just aren't words beautiful enough or powerful enough. It is something that has to be experienced.
Thanks for your input. Greatly appreciated.
I know I am on the right path, and a lot of what you just said validated that. A lot of what this whole thread has said has validated it for me. Not that it needed it. But it was a comfort from you all.
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - Ninurta - 05-13-2024
(05-13-2024, 09:27 PM)FlickerOfLight Wrote: You just hit the nail on the head.
I had to accept God did not love everyone.
That hit me hard.
...
That took me a while. This was a cold hard fact that I had to accept.
I accept that everyone has their own choice, and everyone makes their own choice.
I did have a period where I tried to argue these insights to others.
I learned very quickly that was an exercise in futility.
I stopped.
I accept that this is my journey and my journey alone. Like you said, I will do what I can where I can.
...
It was easier for me than for most. You see, I'm a sort of "Calvinist", and Calvinism has the concept built right into it with the doctrines of "predestination" and the related concept of "the Elect". That flows right along with what I've termed "The Sons of Seth" and "The Sons of Cain". Not necessarily physical descendants, but closer to spiritual descendants.
Now, a lot of folks reject such doctrines because they claim it interferes with the concept of free will, particularly the doctrine of Predestination... but I don't see that interference. I think folks will react, and make their choices, in accordance with their innermost natures. That doesn't mean they don't have "free will", it means they will exercise their free will in accordance with their basic makeup - lions will act like lions, lambs will act like lambs, and leopards will not change their spots. The decisions each makes do not mean they are not exercising free will in their decision, it only means they are acting in accordance with their natures when they do.
Decisions are still being made, and free will is still being exercised in those decisions.
So, for me it was an easier connection to make than it is for many - this realization that not everyone is going to act in ways that I personally consider to be their best interests. They have to act in ways that THEY consider to be in their best interests. I don't get to dictate how they act or react, BECAUSE of their "free will". It's not under my control, nor is it my decision to make for them.
I think the greatest love one human can show for another in the modern day is to give them the information they need, as you understand it - and if they want it - and then leave them alone to make their own decisions following that.
Giving that information to people who do not want it, and did not ask for it, is what constitutes "casting pearls before swine".
.
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - FlickerOfLight - 05-13-2024
You reminded me of my father just then. He has passed on, but what you said in there was a lesson he had been trying to teach me since childhood. It was not easy for me to see, or accept that there wasn't some good in everyone; and that everyone was capable of love.
My father tried his whole life to teach me this. He's been gone for 6 years now and I am starting to accept this at the level he was trying to teach it to me.
"I think the greatest love one human can show for another is to give them the information they need, as you understand it - and if they want it - and then leave them alone to make their own decisions following that."
This is how I had approached it. I do well with strangers with this. Family was harder for me.
By the way. I completely grasped the concept of the children of Cain, and the children of Seth. I've read the Book of Adam and Eve 1&2. I also got the spiritual reference to it. Both in the text, and in what you had said. I gained powerful discernment through all of this. Especially spiritually speaking.
I've read a lot of your stuff on here. You've had quite the life. And know much.
Kudos
GeauxHomeLittleD gave us the damn meaning of life in the thread. I just wanted to point that out, but forgot earlier. So here it is. The meaning of life..
"If you consider that the tiny spark that we call "soul" was intentionally placed inside a human body in order to experience the thing called "life" and that when "life" ends that spark returns to the collective bringing with it the knowledge and feelings of all that it experienced in order to enhance the collective" -GeauxHomeLittleD-
Wow...mind blow.
There's a lot of wisdom in this thread, from everyone.
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - NightskyeB4Dawn - 05-16-2024
I thought that this video that @"OmegaLogos"#8 shared in the Shoutbox would fit nicely here.
It is a tiny visual aid that does a good job of painting a picture for the rewards of giving.
Thanks @"OmegaLogos"#8.
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - FlickerOfLight - 05-16-2024
(05-16-2024, 11:43 AM)NightskyeB4Dawn Wrote: I thought that this video that @"OmegaLogos"#8 shared in the Shoutbox would fit nicely here.
It is a tiny visual aid that does a good job of painting a picture for the rewards of giving.
Thanks @"OmegaLogos"#8.
Thank you NightskyeB4Dawn and OmegaLogos
Great example of what bearing fruit looks like. Fruit that abides and bears even more fruit.
I'll just say that was very familiar to me.
Great addition to the thread.
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - BIAD - 05-16-2024
(05-13-2024, 09:27 PM)FlickerOfLight Wrote: ...I had to accept God did not love everyone...
I always cleave to a quote from Graham Greene's 'Brighton Rock'.
“You can’t conceive, my child, nor can I or anyone the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God.”
RE: Dark Night of the Soul - NightskyeB4Dawn - 05-16-2024
(05-16-2024, 06:21 PM)BIAD Wrote:(05-13-2024, 09:27 PM)FlickerOfLight Wrote: ...I had to accept God did not love everyone...
I always cleave to a quote from Graham Greene's 'Brighton Rock'.
“You can’t conceive, my child, nor can I or anyone the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God.”
Sin is contemptible and feeds hate. Repentance is cleansing and promotes love.
Of all those spoken of in the Bible, David is my favorite. I think David broke every law and commandment there was, but he still had God's love.