Blue hearts afflict us all: sadness, malaise, and discouragement. There are times when we need to grieve, but no one wants to stay there. Blue hearts can be disproportionate to our circumstances and hold us back.

Or, they can propel us forward.

This is what all the saints learned so well. That is, they to respond to difficulty in faith so that they are able to grow stronger.

St. John of the Cross writes about how he grew closer to God through his trials. We know about his dark night of the soul--this is a specific experience that isn’t for everyone. But he says that on some level, everyone must go through some form of darkness to experience what he calls the full riches and wisdom of God. He experienced this even while in prison, and said that this is normative for every life.

In the dungeon, Jeremiah wrote,

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. (Lam 3:21-23)

If Jeremiah can say this in a dungeon, then we can also say that in the "dungeons" of our lives.

In this email, I'm going to share a very brief overview of a pattern that is distilled from what St. Paul illustrates in his writings about how to face adversity. It's a pattern that he commends to us all and is successfully embraced by all the saints.

This pattern applies to any time we face adversity, so it applies to times when we feel especially weighed down. We can expand on it to show how blue hearts lead to blue skies.

Different kinds of darkness

In his book The Catholic Guide to Depression, Dr. Aaron Keriaty points out that blue hearts happen to each of us, and this can be an important part of spiritual growth. He outlines three different kinds of experience that have a spiritual component:

• Basic blues that come from short-term discouragement.
• Acedia, which is a loss of passion for God.
• The dark night of the soul--a more specific experience outlined famously by St. John of the Cross.

An overarching principle

Like St. John of the Cross, Keriaty points out that there's an overarching principle behind all of these “feeling down” experiences of darkness that can lead us closer to God. To this end, he quotes the 13th Century Dominican mystic John Tauler, who outlines the principle well. He's worth quoting at length:

Since God draws men to him by means of joy and others my means of sorrow, by which of theses did he draw the disciples? the answer is found in considering their life. It was passed in our Savior's company in much hardship, ending in great shame and distress. So they were drawn to God more by sorrow than by joy. And especially after their master's cruel death were they in a state of bitter suffering, until they had become entirely detached. And thus, by the special favor of their heavenly Father, they were made fit to receive the Holy Spirit by the way of suffering. The drawing through sorrow is a safer way than through joy.

In this way, adversity and blue hearts lead us closer to God because they cause us to press in to God in order to find a way forward. We're in a fallen world so circumstances will be difficult. The point here is to find joy and strength that is not dependent on circumstance. A difficult season of life can, in turn, lead to blessing because it moves us to find lasting joy and peace.

Clinical depression is something different

Not all depression can be immediately be addressed by spiritual means alone. For those to suffer clinical depression, darkness can seem so impenetrable that there appears to be absolutely no way out. Someone who suffers from clinical depression typically feels unable to take even the smallest steps. When this is the case, a change in diet, therapy, medication -- every option should be pursued. But even in these cases, the ultimate goal is to get to the place where you can make a choice to receive spiritual strength. This is the goal for all of us.

Make a choice

Most of us can make a choice, even if a blue heart makes it harder. To go from blue hearts to blue skies, we learn to look up and receive from God. Then there is a choice to give up what gets in the way. And then, finally, we intentionally walk up, because anything worthwhile is uphill.

This means making a choice to move forward with the gospel. That is, to receive gospel truths and live accordingly. When we learn to move forward with blue hearts, we find greater sources of strength for every time of life.

Look up, give up, walk up – each point builds until we get the place where we can move forward with more grace. We see this pattern throughout all of Scripture. Beginning with the next email, I’ll unpack these points biblically to show how blue hearts truly lead to blue skies.