"The Soul is not to be disquieted, that is sees it self encompassed with Darkness, because that is an Instrument of its greater Felicity.
39. THERE are two sorts of Darkness: some unhappy, and others happy : the first are such as arise from sin, and are unhappy, because they lead the Christian to an eternal precipice. The second are those which the Lord suffers to be in the Soul, to ground and settle it in vertue; and these are happy, because they enlighten it, fortifie it, and cause greater light therein, so that thou oughtest not to grieve and disturb thy self, nor be disconsolate in seeing thy self obscure and darksom, judging that God hath failed thee, and the light also that thou formerly had the experience of; thou oughtest rather at that time persevere constantly in Prayer, it being a manifest sign, that God of his infinite mercy intends to bring thee into the inward path, and happy way of Paradise. O how happy wilt thou be, if thou embrace it with Peace and Resignation, as the instrument of perfect Quiet, true Light, & of all thy spiritual Good.
40. Know then that the streightest, most perfect and secure way of proficients, is the way of darkness: because in them the Lord placed his own Throne; And ( Psalm 18. ) He made darkness his secret place. By them the supernatural Light which God infuses into the Soul, grows and increases. Amidst them Wisdom and strong Love are begotten, by darkness the soul is annihilated, and the species, which hinder the right view of the divine Truth, are consumed. By this means God introduces the Soul by the Inward Way into the Prayer of Rest, and of perfect Contemplation, which so few have the experience of. Finally; by darkness the Lord purgest the senses and sensibility, which hinder the mystical progress.
41. See now if darkness be not to be esteemed and embraced. What thou oughtest to do amidst them, is to believe, that thou art before the Lord, and in his Presence; but thou oughtest to do so, with a sweet and quiet Attention; not desire to know any thing, nor search after delicacies, tenderness or sensible devotions, nor do any thing but what is the good Will and Pleasure of God; Because otherwise thou wilt only make circles, all thy life time, and not advance one step toward Perfection."
Let me bring it on home with a wrap up on what he means. The BETTER way is the way that understands that the darkness and tribulations of this life are meant to drive us even closer to God. Like Lawrence of Arabia, we need a wilderness fortress to hide out and replenish our spirits. This mortal coil is going to suffer and may CONTINUE in suffering but the inner man can draw even nearer to God. Think of John the apostle on Patmos, he dearly wanted to be OFF the island and back with his beloved 7 churches but if he hadn't suffered he never would have gotten the vision of the glorified Christ and the book of Revelation. In more recent times I remember Joni Eareckson and her comment that the more we suffer the bigger our rewards.
We have much to learn from Mara, the Lady of Sorrows... till then we must wait our appointed time till our change comes (the book of Job).
Facing the Giants only gives an earthly view. God rewards in the here and now... but for those of us who have to slug it out in the trenches, lets dig deeper into the riches of Christ. It is the way of the more proficient (to borrow from Molinos).
