标杆人生第十四天   第4

To mature your friendship, God will test it with periods of seeming separation-times when it feels as if he has abandoned or forgotten you. God feels a million miles away. St. John of the Cross referred to these days of spiritual dryness, doubt, and estrangement from God as "the dark night of the soul." Henri Nouwen called them "the ministry of absence." A. W. Tozer called them "the ministry of the night." Others refer to "the winter of the heart."

为了要使你的友情更趋成熟，神会以一段看似分离——一段感觉他似乎已经离弃你或遗忘你的时期来考验你；你觉得神仿佛在千万里之外。十架的圣约翰描述那些灵性黑暗、存疑、与神疏离的日子为「灵魂的黑夜」。卢云(Henri Nouwen) 称它们作「缺席的牧养」，陶恕叫它们作「夜间的牧长」，其他人则称之为「心灵的寒冬」。