THE APOPHATIC SILENCE OF ST JOSEPH
Keywords:
Apophatic Theology, John of the Cross, Mystic, Silence, Via NegativaAbstract
Focussing on the apophatic silence of St Joseph, reflections are made on the various challenging events in Joseph’s life to see how these perplexing and shocking events may have driven him into an equanimous silence that spoke eloquently about his experiences that may be termed as mystical. Challenging experiences are often powerful. When a mystery is experienced, the expression pertaining to is often incongruent and the language of the mystic is often silence. If at all, an expression of the experience is possible, the one who narrates the experience takes recourse to analogies. However, name, form and expression are so limited that they often lead to confusion. The mystical has often become “terrible” and the ineffability of mystical experience has the spirituals of various traditions have taken recourse to the wisdom of apophasis. As a mystic, Joseph welcomed the numinous as it came knocking at the first Christmas because this experience permeated his consciousness as it had the potential to be an inordinate blessing, even when the aftermath felt chaotic and hard to integrate. Though Joseph was delivered into the Dark Night, while the shock was like hell on earth, when it was resolved, it became a gift from God. It is this gift that turned Joseph into a silent monk of a father.
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