The fire that burns away the dross during the suffering, dryness, and distaste of the long dark night of the soul is the same fire that, upon completion of purification and the unearthing of the deepest well of freedom, will leap out and lip and run and warm a soul set free from sin and attachments to created things without reference first to God. It’s the same fire. Only in retrospect can this be truly, absolutely seen and known. The darkness of the dark night was really a light. The light was really God’s deepest presence, the “ultimate fiery force” as Saint Hildegard calls the Holy Spirit. And God only wants to give, burn gently, and abide with us.