The darkness of life confronts some more than others and for what, perhaps is a majority, this darkness seems inescapable. This was brought home to me in the following three vignettes, a Mafia wife, a despairing novelist, and a poverty stricken young girl. The three stories converged upon me this week as a problem for which there is no justification or answer. In place of an answer I offer counter stories accompanied by poetry and song (weak even in the description); the stories of two men who faced soul crushing despair in a wilderness of hatred, bigotry, and racism, and yet who, like Moses, caught a glimpse of the promised land. At their lowest point both see beyond the immediate despair and prospect of death and their vision is captured in a moment of transcendent artistry. The vision of their art is the singular balm, of which I am aware, for the dark night of the soul. Continue reading “Hope for Getting Through the Dark Night of the Soul”