For Further Reflection:

Below are the quotes from the talk and some additional quotes for you to take this theme further.

In her book titled “Desire, Darkness and Hope: Theology in a time of Impasse”, Constance FitzGerald writes: “On the other side of all our technology, we have come to poverty and to dark night. We can find no escape from the world we have built, where the poor and oppressed cry out, where the earth and the environment cry out, and where the specter of nuclear waste already haunts future generations. We can find no way out of the horror of nuclear stockpiles but more sophisticated and deadly weapons systems.”

"By impasse, I mean that there is no way out of, no way around, no rational escape from, what imprisons one, no possibilities in the situation. In a true impasse, every normal manner of acting is brought to a standstill, and, ironically, impasse is experienced not only in the problem itself but also in any solution rationally attempted."

Belden Lane: " . . . in a genuine impasse one’s accustomed way of acting and living is brought to a standstill. The left side of the brain, with its usual application of linear, analytical, conventional thinking is ground to a halt. The impasse forces us to start all over again, driving us to contemplation. On the other hand, the impasse provides a challenge and a concrete focus for contemplation. . . . It forces the right side of the brain into gear, seeking intuitive, symbolic, unconventional answers, so that action can be renewed eventually with greater purpose."

Constance FitzGerald: "The negative situation constitutes a reverse pressure on imagination so that imagination is the only way to move more deeply into the experience. It is this “imaginative shock,” or striking awareness that our categories do not fit our experience, that throws the intuitive, unconscious self into gear in quest of what the possibilities really are.”

"We close off the breaking in of God into our lives if we cannot admit into consciousness the situations of profound impasse we face personally and societally."

“Paradoxically, a situation of no potential is loaded with potential, and impasse becomes the place for the reconstitution of the intuitive self. …. While nothing seems to be moving forward, one is, in fact, on a homeward exile—if one can yield in the right way, responding with full consciousness of one’s suffering in the impasse yet daring to believe that new possibilities, beyond immediate vision, can be given.”

Constance FitzGerald describes that our times of impasse can be the very conditions we need for creative growth, human evolution and transformation of consciousness, “...if the experience of impasse is fully appropriated within one’s heart and flesh with consciousness and consent; ifthe limitations of one’s humanity and human condition are squarely faced and the sorrow of finitude allowed to invade the human spirit with real, existential powerlessness; if the ego does not demand understanding in the name of control and predictability but is willing to admit the mystery of its own being and surrender itself to this mystery; if the path into the unknown, into the uncontrolled and unpredictable margins of life, is freely taken when the path of deadly clarity fades.”

Karl Rahner: “The Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist at all.”

Constance FitzGerald: “The only way to break out of this desperate circle of insoluble self-questioning is to surrender in faith and trust to the unfathomable Mystery that beckons onward and inward beyond calculation, order, self-justification, and fear. … It is precisely as broken, poor, and powerless that one opens oneself to the dark mystery of God in loving, peaceful waiting.”

Matt Licata: “We are asked to marinate in the womb of now, tend to the groundlessness, and find refuge in the unknown: to be midwife to the darkened illumination. To shepherd the wandering orphans of psyche ... For just one moment, the veil parts and we are provided with a glimpse behind the scenes. ...

Today may not be the day for answers, but to let your heart break open to the vastness of the question. To fall to the ground as a humble lover of the mystery. And listen once again.”

You are There

In the quiet curve of evening, in the sinking of the days,

in the silky void of darkness, you are there.

In the lapses of my breathing, in the space between my ways,

in the crater carved by sadness, you are there.

You are there, you are there, you are there.

In the rests between the phrases, in the cracks between the stars,

in the gaps between the meaning, you are there.

In the melting down of endings, in the cooling of the sun,

in the solstice of the winter, you are there.

You are there, you are there, you are there.

In the mystery of my hungers, in the silence of my rooms,

in the cloud of my unknowing, you are there.

In the empty cave of grieving, in the desert of my dreams,

in the tunnel of my sorrow, you are there.

You are there, you are there, you are there.

~ Julie Howard

Trust the Darkness Now (extracts)

If you are lost.

If nothing makes sense anymore.

If all your reference points have collapsed.

If the old life is crumbling now.

If the mind is foggy, tired, busy.

If the organism is exhausted and longs to rest -

Trust. This is a rite of passage, not an error.

Contact the ground now.

Breathe. In, out.

Make room for the visitors: The sorrow, doubt, fear, anger.

An ancient emptiness - they just want to be felt.

They just want to pass through.

You are a sky, not the passing weather.

An old life is falling away. A new life is being born.

Others may not understand, but trust anyway.

Celebrate. Contact the ground.

~ Jeff Foster