The Experience

At the last meeting I talked about "burnout". I started it with the Psalm 22 (the laments of an innocent man). I read verses 1-22 which portray the sufferings of a man experiencing what we refer to today as "burnout". What I didn't get to talk about was the rest of the psalm where not only the tortured soul rejoices in the Lord, but so do all the nations and peoples of the world. I'm learning that this "burnout", "dark night of the soul", "desolation", or whatever you want to call it that we experience is not something we must fight. It is our response to the grace we receive in the sacraments. That suffering for a greater glory that is not our own is our pat on the back, our reassurance, our "well done my good and faithful servant". Therefore, this "burnout" is not something to fear, resist, pull yourself out of, or anything at all like that. This "burnout" is something we rejoice in and sing "Hallelujah" for because it then frees us to truly experience the power of faith, hope and love that only comes from God. It is much more than feeling. Much more than knowing. It is truly and sincerely experiencing it in ways that no blog post, no catechesis, no words, no talk, no song, no one prayer can fully encapsulate and convey. It is in these moments where we experience the reality of Christ in our interior lives rather than just our mind, heart and soul. It is our interior life that we truly experience and respond to God's grace with. I can only pray for more experiences like this.