Both in consolation and in desolation God is calling us to a deeper, richer life in the love of Christ. God uses desolations in prayer, like all sufferings in life, to prune away our bad habits, self-sufficiency, and illusions about prayer, about ourselves, about God, and about life in general. To have consistently lofty thoughts and feelings during prayer would tempt us to identify God with those good experiences, whereas He is far beyond them, and might lead us to cling to such paltry satisfactions, whereas God is urging us to transcend them. If we are somehow responsible for the desolation, then we need to reform the disorder in our lives and then get on with the prayer. If we are not responsible for the desolation, then we must simply persevere the best we can with the faith-knowledge that desolation is no indication of God’s displeasure. In all cases of our sincere prayer, the Lord embraces us and seeks to reach lovingly into every corner of our lives. Our task is to keep praying amidst all the dryness and “never [to] lose hope in God’s mercy.” This is the narrow road that leads to salvation and total immersion in Christ!
From Lessons from Saint Benedict, Finding Joy in Daily Life
by Donald S. Raila, OSB
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