When Saint John of the Cross talks about the three signs that the soul is being led by God into a dark night of the purgation of the senses, imagination, and sensual parts of the human being, he discusses the second sign like this (Dark Night, Bk. I, Ch. 9):

The second test and condition of this purgation are that the memory dwells ordinarily upon God with a painful anxiety and carefulness, the soul thinks it is not serving God, but going backwards, because it is no longer conscious of any sweetness in the things of God… The true purgative aridity is accompanied in general by a painful anxiety, because the soul thinks that it is not serving God. Though this be occasionally increased by melancholy or other infirmity – so it sometimes happens – yet it is not for that reason without its purgative effects on the desires, because the soul is deprived of all sweetness, and its sole anxieties are referred to God. For when mere bodily indisposition is the cause, all that it does is to produce disgust and the ruin of bodily health, without the desire of serving God which belongs to the purgative aridity. In this aridity, though the sensual part of man be greatly depressed, weak and sluggish in good works, by reason of the little satisfaction they furnish, the spirit is, nevertheless, ready and strong.

The point I want to draw attention to is this: John explicitly says,

… this [can] be occasionally increased by melancholy or other infirmity…

This explicit recognition of the place of human, physical weakness in the dryness of the dark night shows just how real and applicable John’s wisdom is for those of us who live far removed from the cloister, at the heart of the world, on the muddy highways of this life.

For John, this happens “occasionally”. I think it’s fair to say that, if our life is more busy than John’s, it could happen “more than occasionally”.

The value of human weakess and being pushed to the limit (the Greek and desert fathers call it ponos) is dispositive. John acknowledges that it is dispositive in itself. Human weakness, in the form of fatigue or illness, disposes us to throwing everything down and saying, “Jesus, take everything; I cannot feel, I cannot sense; just guide me. I love you.” The human fatigue is natural. And it can kill the imagination and the senses, if we do not resist it by chasing after images and sensations that we’ve lost. If we accept the lot of human nature, grace can work all the more in us. In this case, grace very clearly uses and builds on nature. For example, Marcel Văn gives to Jesus these words:

Do not become sad if during these days you feel full of disgust… If it is so, it is not that my love for you has cooled, but rather because you are feeling sick and tired. I do recognize, however, that it is I who am the cause of all this…

It is God who is providence. Even the little things and feelings can induce physical weakness. The God of grace is the same as the God of nature.

René Voillaume, founder of the Little Brothers of Jesus who work in the world but have a contemplative vocation, discusses the same issue in these words:

One of the main objections made to our way of life [as Little Brothers of Jesus] is that fatigue, the noise that it entails most of the time, and even the weighing down of the spirit brought on by a prolonged physical effort, all seem to remove the possibility of an authentic prayer life. This question is important for us and for millions of poor people… There must be an answer to this objection… In reading the Gospel, it seems like Jesus never had any idea of making prayer the reserve of the man of leisure and the man with a fruitful time of meditation: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28)

Yes, we must do our part; but it does happen that, when our time of prayer comes, most of the time, we are unable to meditate, to think. The whole question is whether there is another way offered to us to be joined to God.

And the answer, of course, is contemplation. Father Voillaume knew and loved Saint John of the Cross. He knew the answer is a dark night and contemplation. His state of life and John’s state of life differ. But the essential remains the same! The essential expressed in the Dark Night stays the same. If we accept it as such, physical or mental fatigue (ponos) can condition a dark night and also contemplation.

Are you tired? Are you suffering? Is that causing your imagination, your images, your senses, your sensations, your emotions, your desires for “feel-able” things to disappear? Is it causing dryness? Is it causing aridity? If it is not exactly causing dryness, might it lead to spiritual dryness?

God may take this very road to lead you by a dark night into closer union with him. The God of grace is the God of nature, too. He knows what he permits, and he knows what he’s doing. Just pray. Really accept the littleness of the human condition, of your condition. Be little. Ask for God to come and take you as you are. This is all you can do! God knows what he’s doing.