Encouragement and The Dark Night

The dark night...maybe you have been there.  It is a season when things turn black.  Maybe death has invaded your life.  Maybe divorce has clouded your mind.  Maybe you have just hit a wall and you have lost passion.  St. Augustine called it "the dark night of the soul".  It is a season or seasons that you walk through when dark clouds move in and you are fighting to stay alive.

Encouraging the heart is about confronting the dark night with a stable and sensitive presence.  It is walking with another human being without judgment.  It is showing compassion.  It is offering a cup of cold water to one who is fighting to stay alive.  It is honestly putting aside selfishness and doing what is right.

I have met people who have faced the dark night without comfort, care, or the concern of others.  It amazes me how cruel people can be.  It amazes me how people forget that the one thing that sets us apart from being animals is the ability to show kindness and compassion.  I have watched humans ignore others while they struggle with the dark night.  God help us, please...

Encouraging the heart is about offering a word of hope.  Encouraging the heart is about offering a word of courage.  Encouraging the heart is about getting dirty with humanity.  You know, honestly putting yourself in the shoes of one who is walking in the dark night of the soul and offering yourself, your presence, your touch. 

I dare you to embrace the one who is currently walking through the dark night of the soul.  Try going beyond yourself into a life who needs your presence.  I am thinking about hot dogs.  Yup...hot dogs.  I am remembering how I used to help serve hot dogs on summer afternoons to kids in need, to kids who never asked to be poor, to parents who were too ashamed to come out of their low-income apartments to get a free hot dog.  Eventually they did emerge but only if they thought they were safe.

Be a safe place for another person.  Encourage their heart by walking with them.  I was criticised for serving hot dogs.  I think I need to ignore the voices and serve hot dogs again.  It's good for me.  It's good for others.

Try encouraging someone this week.  When you do you will change your world one person at a time.

Be Encouraged,
Rick