"The dark night of the soul is not an evil to be endured; it's a good for which we should be grateful.  Of course, it doesn't always seem that way.  The thought of plunging into a spiritual abyss and losing all the sweetness in our relationship with God strikes few as appealing.  But neither does surgery.  Having cancer removed from our bodies isn't a fun process.  Nevertheless, we submit to the surgeon's knife readily and quickly, knowing that the sooner we have the surgery, the sooner we can live a healthy, full life. What's true on the natural level is true on the supernatural level.  If we want to become the people God made us to be and live the lives he made us to live, we must let him excise sin and unhealthy attachments from our souls.  There's no getting around it.  Before we can enter heaven, it has to happen.  It can happen in this life or it can happen in the next — in purgatory.  But here is better.  For the sooner we let God root out unhealthy attachments, the sooner we can get on with the business of being saints". Emily Stimpson. "Understanding the 'dark night of the soul'."