Going to the Dark, Empty Places

We all have experience of darkness in life at times. The darkness comes in those places where our shadows trip us up. For some, those shadows are shadows of anger or unforgiveness or ill-health. For others, broken relationships or financial worries might be the shadows that dwell in the dark, empty places.

It is in facing into the dark and empty place that we can see the reality that our problems, though sometimes seemingly great in size or magnitude, are never the entirety of the story. For me, slowing down and regaining the discipline of prayer and reflection, rather than bringing me to a place of terror and ruin, actually takes me to a place of healing. It’s a place of encounter with reality, of encounter with God.

Excerpted from Emerging from the Mess by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds (p.21)