Tag Archives: The Dark Night of the Soul

Dark Thoughts

Posted on July 8, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

I know the dark thoughtsthat keep you awake at night It can’t be true.But what if it is? There is no peaceturning one wayor the other. This is too much for you to bear, my love. Come inside.Let me wrap … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Poetry, Reflections | Tagged Dark NIght, Eric Verleene., Esther Hizsa, Matthew Kane, Psalm 131:2, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, St. John of the Cross, Steve Bell, Summer Saturday Moon, Teresa of Avila, The Dark Night of the Soul | 4 Comments

A Quarter Turn

Posted on December 3, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

I suddenly knew I was looking at it from the wrong angle, and I gave the cloth in my hand a quarter turn. Immediately I saw a beautiful and coherent golden pattern…. In wonder, the pattern had emerged, to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Advent, Mindfulness, Reflections, Spiritual Direction, Stories | Tagged Advent, Esther Hizsa, Helen Luke, James Finley, Jürgen Mangelsdorf, Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-49, Matthew 1:18-25, Quarter Turn, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, St. John of the Cross, Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On, The Dark Night of the Soul, Tristan Unrau, Weaving | Leave a comment

Loving Myself for God’s Sake

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

Am I being greedy? I pushed the question aside, but it kept coming back. Should I really be co-facilitating both offerings of Living from the Heart that will be held in B.C.’s Lower Mainland in 2019? Even though I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Prayer, Reflections | Tagged A Good Day, Backeddy Resort, Bernard of Clairvaux, David Steindl-Rast, Esther Hizsa, Gerald May, Gratefulness, Hugo, Living from the Heart, Love of self for God's sake, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, The Dark Night of the Soul | 1 Comment

A Doorway

Posted on August 17, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

My Eight-Day Retreat: Part 5 Father Roshan picked up on the theme of finding the lost and assigned me the story of Zacchaeus for one of my prayers. I took the despised tax-collector’s place. However, in my story, everyone was … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Mystical, Prayer, Praying with the Imagination, Reflections | Tagged 8 day retreat, Chris Chiu, Divine Union, Eric Magnuson, Esther Hizsa, John 14:20, John 17:20-21, JSAV, SoulStream, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, St. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, The Dark Night of the Soul, The Open Door | 1 Comment

Waking Up

Posted on January 26, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

I want to be fully awake to God. I’d like to live so aware of being in Christ that I rely on nothing other than God for my security or identity. A bird held by a single thread is still not … Continue reading →

Posted in False Self, Ignatian Spirituality, Reflections | Tagged A Rocha, addictions, Anthony de Mello, attachments, awareness, Breathing Underwater, David L. Clough, David L. Fleming SJ, Eating Peaceably, Esther Hizsa, Ignatius of Loyola, James Finley, On Animals, Regent College, Richard Rohr, Simon Bleasdale, Soul of Christ, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul, Two Standards, Vancouver School of Theology, Veganism, Wake up | 1 Comment

Adrift in an Ocean of Love

Posted on January 19, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

I’m thinking about my desire to know God’s love for me on God’s terms, not mine. James Finley said in a recent webinar Through the Dark Night, that we long for a sense of union with God that we will experience only … Continue reading →

Posted in Mystical, Poverty of Spirit, Reflections | Tagged Acts 17:28, Center for Action and Contemplation, Esther Hizsa, Geraint Rowland, James Finley, Listen to the Musn'ts, Marja Bergen, sailing around the world, Setting Sun Malecon Miraflores, Shel Silverstein, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, The Dark Night of the Soul, Tieras, Where the Sidewalk Ends | 2 Comments

Advent IV: Love

Posted on December 22, 2017 by Esther Hizsa

Our faith tells us that the infinite love that is the architect of our hearts has made our hearts in such a way that nothing less than an infinite love will put to rest the restless longings of our hearts. –James … Continue reading →

Posted in Advent, Mystical, Reflections | Tagged E.Allison Peers, Esther Hizsa, Franz Mayer, George Matheson, O Love that will not let me go, Plum leaves, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Susanne Nilsson, The Dark Night of the Soul, The Nativity, Trevlig fjärde advent! | 2 Comments

Good and Glory

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Esther Hizsa

It is finished. Jesus has died. His body is lowered down from the cross and taken to the tomb. On Easter Saturday we hold vigil with everyone who is grieving the loss of Christ’s presence. Those bright days of miracles and laughter, … Continue reading →

Posted in Easter, Holy Week, Lent | Tagged Devotion, Easter Saturday, Esther Hizsa, Gone is the Light, Gord Johnson, Holy Saturday, John 14:28, John 1:5, LIving Flame of Love, Luke 11:11-13, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Steve Bell, The Dark Night of the Soul | Leave a comment

O Sacred Friend Now Wounded

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Esther Hizsa

Now you are lifted up and alone, O Sacred Friend. You are every person who has ever been condemned, battered, betrayed, or abandoned. You bear all our suffering and every consequence for the suffering we caused. “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what … Continue reading →

Posted in Easter, Holy Week, Lent | Tagged Crucifixion 2, Esther Hizsa, Jesus down from the cross, Luke 23:34, Michael D. O'Brien, O Sacred Head, Rene, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, The Dark Night of the Soul | 1 Comment

A Sense of God’s Presence

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Esther Hizsa

This month I returned to Bowen Island to spend a few days alone with God. I hoped it would help me get through the dark months ahead. I didn’t have much of a sense of God’s presence until I passed by a church and … Continue reading →