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A Hell of Mercy: A Meditation on Depression and the Dark Night of the Soul QUOTES

A Hell of Mercy: A Meditation on Depression and the Dark Night of the Soul QUOTES

1 " One thing is certain, whatever choices we make: we will not miss out on some critical purgation by seeking treatment for depression or any other form of physical suffering. If we are ripe for what the dark night brings, God will find a way to bring the process to fruition no matter how hard we try to avoid it. "

― Tim Farrington , A Hell of Mercy: A Meditation on Depression and the Dark Night of the Soul

2 " You don't need to retire to a cloister or the desert for years on end to experience a true dark night; you don't even have to be pursuing any particular "spiritual" path. Raising a challenged child, or caring for a failing parent for years on end, is at least as purgative as donning robes and shaving one's head; to endure a mediocre work situation for the sake of the paycheck that sustains a family demands at least as much in the way of daily surrender to years of pristine silence in a monastery. No one can know in advance how and where the night will come, and what form God's darkness will take. "

― Tim Farrington , A Hell of Mercy: A Meditation on Depression and the Dark Night of the Soul

3 " Then you pray the prayer that is the essence of every ritual: God, I have no hope. I am torn to shreds. You are my first and my last and only refuge. Don’t do daily prayers like a bird pecking, moving its head up and down. Prayer is an egg. Hatch out the total helplessness inside. —RUMI "

― Tim Farrington , A Hell of Mercy: A Meditation on Depression and the Dark Night of the Soul

4 " Freud put it beautifully: the aim of psychoanalysis is to help the patient let go of the delusional suffering of his neuroses and experience the misery of actual reality. "

― Tim Farrington , A Hell of Mercy: A Meditation on Depression and the Dark Night of the Soul

5 " I had learned at last to not project my darkness onto those around me; "

― Tim Farrington , A Hell of Mercy: A Meditation on Depression and the Dark Night of the Soul

6 " Inside this new love, die. Your way begins on the other side…. Die, and be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign that you’ve died. Your old life was a frantic running from silence. The speechless full moon comes out now. —RUMI "

― Tim Farrington , A Hell of Mercy: A Meditation on Depression and the Dark Night of the Soul