A Whole Street of Houses, Stirred With A Spoon

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“ And by this time they were come up to the great iron gates in front of the house; and Tom stared through them at the rhododendrons and azaleas, which were all in flower; and then at the house itself, and wondered how many chimneys there were in it, and how long ago it was built, and what was the man’s name that built it, and whether he got much money for his job? These last were very difficult questions to answer. For Harthover had been built at ninety different times, and in nineteen different styles, and looked as if somebody had built a whole street of houses of every imaginable shape, and then stirred them together with a spoon.” —The Water-Babies, by Charles Kingsley. Ch.1 (1863)

What Is A "Dark Night Of The Soul"? Suffering In Love

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"One dark night, 
fired with love's urgent longings 
-- ah, the sheer grace! -- 
I went out unseen, 
my house being now all stilled."  

(St. John of the Cross, the mid-1500's)

One aspect of the "the dark night of the soul" can be described as that time in a person's life when God wants to draw him/her closer to Himself and that person has either no desire for God and resists His wooing or that person hears God's call and follows. 

When The Lover calls, the Beloved at first is overwhelmed with unconditional love and may resist, but when at last giving in to the call, the Beloved realizes one has a decision to make, another "dark night," as it were. One must either leave the current state (mind, heart) and steal away "fired with love's urgent longings" or remain in the dark night of separation from God. 

The night is also dark because the soul is being led by God into a "night" of uncertainty, of taking The Beloved away from everything he or she once knew . . . a night of pain, of second-guessing, or tears, of dying. Again, a "night" of decision. The Beloved overshadows with grace if only the Beloved would accept it . . . 

. . . and in John's poem, grace is accepted and The Beloved goes to meet The Lover on a dark night, fired by love, sneaking out of the house . . . 

Listen: 

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