When Everything's On Fire: The Dark Night Of Unknowing

In Genesis the new day doesn’t begin at sunrise or at midnight, but at sunset. Reflecting this, the Jewish Sabbath does not begin at sunrise on Saturday but at sundown on Friday. Each new day begins with new darkness. Newness is not heralded by the rising sun but by enfolding darkness. This is counterintuitive. The new day does not begin with being able to see, the new day begins with being unable to see. Newness is born in nothingness. Darkness is the canvass for the new light of creation. In our pilgrimage through life, dark nights come before new dawns. This is good news for a troubled soul groping in the darkness of deconstruction. A dark night of the soul does not have to be the end of faith but can be the beginning of a new journey that leads deeper into the mystery of God. Often our spiritual progress does not begin with a day of new knowing, but with The Dark Night of Unknowing.