Released on the Spark My Muse podcast
This link is a beautiful and thought-provoking musical and visual presentation on dreams. Song and art work display lasts 4.36 min. (The artwork was not made for the song, but both portray the world of the unconscious.)
For more on dreams, do a search for my other posts.
Until today, I never considered jealousy as positive for the reason that desire lies behind it. Desire (behind jealousy) that is not negative, but helpful, creative, productive, and beneficial to others– can be rightly directed. I have squelched all jealousy, tried to kill it dead, and even denied it, but it exists in all of us. (Or I have let it ferment so it hurt me.) Jealousy crops up with/beside love too. If we appreciate the desire behind it as good, and accept who we really are, and what we really feel, perhaps we can channel all we are for the best. (For ourselves and others)
The Dark Night of the Soul, says Dr. Gerald May, sounds different in his patients when they speak. There may be (felt) discouragement, and silence from God. There may be a confusion, and a lack of spiritual “experience” or lack of sensation of the spiritual as there had been before. But, compared to his patients who have symptoms of depression, these folks do not have despair like those who are depressed do. They do not have the same cynicism, even though they may feel alone.
In the dark night times one knows transformation is underway. During times of depression, one hopes to return to normal.
Because God is not a “thing” but rather Spirit-all places at once-as we progress spiritually, invitations come to rebirth and journey closer to union with him as Spirit. What I speak of here is not a journey to a physical spot, but to an awareness of God, in a deeper, richer way. One that involves faith, not sight, or even the crutch of sensation, which may confused for God, but also cannot be God, in actuality.
We can leave behind the old methods of tapping into the spiritual that are like outgrown child’s clothing–too small for us. Ultimately, we move toward union with God in this way.
Some dark nights take years to move through. We must not fear them because they involve a greater revelation of God’s amazing grace and love. The end always results in greater insights of God’s love, and greater union with the Divine, in a brighter day.
In Part III, I will talk about the “Dawn” from the Dark Night.
Some information taken from my reading: Gerald G. May, M.D. The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth. Harper San Francisco, 2004.
So, I recommend the enjoyment of life. The best thing a person can do in this life is to eat and drink and be joyful. Let joy accompany him in his work all the days of life that God has given him to live in this world. – Solomon, King of Israel
(from Ecclesiastes 8:15- translated by David Dorsey, PhD.)
It was an uncharacteristically mild day, and I took a long bike ride. The recent inclement weather left the roads with gravel and debris in many spots–quite a danger for a cyclist. My riding buddy commented that a good rain would wash away the problem, and make it right again to ride more safely. It made me think of the cyclical system of nature–the rains that clean and restore. And also the approach of springtime. Rebirth. The theme of regeneration (and seasons/cycles) is ever present with us. It’s ingrained into the fabric of our experience, and I think our human nature. We want to start over. We crave rejuvenation. though change can be frightening, it also means liberation–and we know it deep down in the marrow. It is a reminder–all around–that the spiritual, and the Divine, is as close as one allows it to be.