Jump directly to the Content
From the editor

When the Light Goes Out

Not all desolation is a "dark night of the soul"

Last night two of my marathon-running friends were telling me about hitting the dreaded "wall." That's what often occurs sometime after the 20-mile mark in a marathon, when runners' glycogen (stored energy) within the muscles is depleted, forcing them to slow the pace considerably.

They described feet feeling like lead, muscle coordination beginning to fail, and self-doubt eroding their motivation. They had to get more glucose into their system to have any hope of finishing.

I congratulated them for hitting it! After all, the vast majority of people will never hit the "wall" because they could never run the 20 miles to ever reach that point. All sorts of other body parts would fail long before they ever ran out of glycogen.

Christian leaders often describe a similar phenomenon to hitting the wall, only in the spiritual realm. It's called "the dark night of the soul," a phrase coined by St. John of the Cross in the 1500s. During such a dark night, which can last for years, God seems absent. ...

March
Support Our Work

Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month

Homepage Subscription Panel

Read These Next

Related
Tom Nelson: Deconstructing Biblical Assumptions
Tom Nelson: Deconstructing Biblical Assumptions
God's introduction as a worker in Genesis 1-2 forces us to reassess and rethink biblical stereotypes and assumptions to develop a doctrine of vocation.
From the Magazine
I Hated ‘Church People.’ But I Knew I Needed Them.
I Hated ‘Church People.’ But I Knew I Needed Them.
As I attended my second funeral in three weeks, two Christians showed me a kindness I couldn’t explain.
Editor's Pick
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
Understanding God and our world needs more than bare reason and experience.
close