Lectio
“The Evil One delights in sadness and melancholy, because they are his own characteristics. He will be in sadness and sorrow through all Eternity, and he would fain have all others the same.”
— St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life
Meditatio
God is the source of all joy, and God wants nothing more — and nothing less — than that our lives be filled with him. He asks only that we love him with all our heart, mind, and strength, and love one another in the same way. That through sickness, persecution, and tragedy, we do not lose sight of love — and therefore do not lose sight of the joy that love alone can give — even in suffering. Because to lose sight of love is to lose sight of God, and thereby to lose our source of joy.
But the Evil One wants nothing more — and nothing less — than that our lives be filled with sorrow; to be devoid of God. To be empty of love. To be bereft of hope. The Evil One knows that the worship of all things not-God ultimately leads to meaningless suffering and therefore to despair, and so his task is merely to distract us from God, to entice us with not-God, and to tempt us to live our lives as though we were God. And through this, he draws us into isolation, alienation, and desolation, where he hopes to keep us with himself for eternity because, if he is going to suffer, he wants as many others as possible to suffer alongside him.
The Evil One deals in absence and in darkness. The absence of God in our hearts and lives: first the inner darkness, and then the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched, and where, absent of living water and the bread of life, we spend eternity with an insatiable thirst and a bottomless hunger — the longing for the very Love that was refused. Because the Evil One can offer us nothing, for he has nothing to give. Neither can he take, for he has no authority to do so. All he can do is to tempt us to give away the divinity that is our birthright, that is God’s faithful promise, and that already belongs to us through Christ, if only we consent to receive him.
God, on the other hand, deals in abundance and light. The light comes in many forms — the inner light of the heart, the lamp at our feet and the light upon our path, the light we first glimpse in the face of another as the apostles themselves experienced in the face of Jesus, and finally the light that has no end — the fullness of Love itself, received at last without remainder. The light of grace that produces the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). God is eternal giving. All of life is the outpouring of his love into and as existence. We are the outpouring of his love into and as our very selves. He is eternal offering. He is eternal unfolding. God offers us everything, but cannot, and will not, force us to accept his offer because love is never imposed. It must be freely consented to and received. And this offer, extended without conditions, is itself the source of joy — the gift of God’s very self overflowing from within our hearts.
And yet, into this overflowing, the Evil One imposes himself — not by force, for he has no authority, but by distraction, by enticement, by manipulation and the slow erosion of our attention — so that we forget God, forget one another, and forget the love that leads to joy. But if we surrender to stillness, God will gently remind us of his presence. He will show us that we are not alone. And he will be the light in the darkness, the joy in the sorrow — for us, that we may be the same for others. That we may love as we have been loved, and in that love, know the joy of Christ in all things, even the cross.
Oratio
the darkness seduces
for the light hurts my eyes
afraid to look
afraid to see
the truth
of my woundedness
my weakness
my wandering
and the truth
the painful
joyous
Truth
that I am loved
anyway
I am loved
every way
I am loved
eternally
just as I am
Contemplatio
Where did you first glimpse the light — in another’s face, on the road, or within yourself — and how has that light led you to where you are now?
Related Scripture
“I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” — John 15:11 (NRSVCE)
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Recollected Into God: Teresa of Ávila on the Soul’s Return to Wholeness, which traces the soul’s movement from fracture and outward grasping into the quiet interior place where God restores us to wholeness — and where, as this post names it, we learn to consent to receive the Love that was always already given.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
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