Dark Night of the Soul II

Dark Night of the Soul II

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Why would anyone want anything to do with the Dark Night of the Soul?

There are a few sayings.  Pressure is what makes the diamond.  Heat is what purifies steel.  

It seems that suffering is a part of the human condition for all people.  Even the privileged and elite go through pain and turmoil between their successful ventures.  We may never see this, though, in many cases where there is a well-crafted advertising image.  

Even if things are going well, it seems that the natural progression is the necessity of adversity before cashing in on any advantage or fortune.  Furthermore, the higher one ascends, it seems like each threshold to cross before the next breakthrough has an even stiffer price to pay.

The entire universe seems to rotate at extremes.  We live on a comfortable planet protected by Jupiter from objects flying at us from outer space.  Our atmosphere provides another layer of protection as that of a womb.  But for the most part, things in the universe are either extremely hot or extremely cold.  There is no room for average or the middle.  Even on Earth, it is strange that we complain of bad weather or climate change, if that is to be believed.  However, the strange thing is our expectation.  Why should we expect normal weather?  We live in Earth womb protection under extremely unlikely conditions.  Thus, when normal things happen in the universe - burning up, freezing up, destruction, explosions, collisions - why are we so shocked?  

Thus, if we want to rise high - to escape the atmosphere of the Earth - we must increase the risk of catastrophe.  Day and night go together.  

When the ruins are cleared after a catastrophe, what is left is really strong.  When the war is over, strong men remain and take over the next age.  Those who survive the deepest sorrow rise up like the phoenix stronger than ever.