Jonathan Romig's Teaching Archive

Do you feel hopeless? Do you feel lost? Do you feel like the darkness won’t lift? In the 1500s a priest named John wrote about the darkness. John wrote the famous poem, “Dark Night of the Soul.” John was a man so devoted to God he renamed himself “John of the Cross.” John named himself after the cross because he wanted to crucify his sinful desires. He did this through practicing community, poverty, fasting, silence, enclosure, and prayer. He was what we might call today Pius, ascetic, or intentionally holy.  He was also pretty mystical or what some might now call charismatic. So if John were alive today, he probably wouldn’t attend our church. But there’s s till a lot we can learn from the way John suffered.

My mentor’s name is David. We met at a local pastor’s gathering where he took voluntary interest in me. I needed a mentor and he wanted to make disciples by caring for the next generation of pastors. For the next year and a half I knew him, David poured into me. He taught me the importance of sharing life stories together, hunting each other’s sin, and giving each other grace.