Before I was a believer, I thought Christians were these freaky, Stepford-ian Wives sort of people (similar to what Robin mentioned) with plastered, happy smiles; people who ignored the real pains of life. Silly heathen, I was. Life is much more challenging now than it was before accepting Christ. And part of that challenge is the silence of God. I like how Warren describes the baby Christian. In the beginning (which was not that long ago) I was floating on the emotions. At that time, I wasn’t quite sure why we all weren’t shiny, happy people. I even thought, Crap, I’m one of those freakish Stepford-ian Wives like people, but who cares if I feel like this! And then, it started to dissipate.

I really needed to read that, “Faith, not feelings, pleases God.” And I needed to hear what you guys think about all this. I am relieved, and grateful to be “growing up” with all of you.

Nothing is that simple. Its no surprise in our culture of quick fixes that we look for a fast food spirituality. If we can take a pill for every ailment, and microwave a meal in seconds, and find instant gratification in every other area of our lives - why not spirituality? Why not take a dunk and pretend our lives will be perfect forever after.

Why not? Because some things must be earned. Because pain and adversity make us stronger and wiser. Because God wants us to grow and thrive, even when it hurts. After a long cold winter, do we not know the bliss of springtime all the more?

Thank you, Rob (and Rick), for talking about the dark night of the soul. My heart says, “Yes, this is real.” We will not pretend there is some easy, quick fix to the problem of our seperation from God. We will simply put our feet upon the path back to Him, and we will bear the pain of that journey as proof that we are on the right path. We will bear eachother up and encourage eachother, but we will never belittle or deny that pain.