"For the love of God, then, be careful and do not imprudently strain yourself in this work. Rely more on joyful enthusiasm than on sheer brute force; avoid all unnatural compulsion and learn to love joyfully with a sweet and gentle disposition of body and soul. Wait with gracious and modest courtesy for the Lord's initiative." This passage from the Cloud of Unknowing is quoted in the revised edition of Thomas Green's popular When the Well Runs Dry. Green has served for more than 25 years as spiritual director at San Jose Seminary in Manila, the Philippines. He uses illustrative material from three masters of prayer — Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Ignatius of Loyola — to describe the three stages of interior growth.
Especially valuable is Green's assessment of the drying up of the well of devotion as a maturing opportunity to learn "to waste time gracefully." Drought can mean growth and during a dark night of the soul we are challenged to be at home in the dark. Calling prayer "the most mysterious dimension of all human experience," Green concludes with an enlightening examination of the art of floating (relax, let go, hang loose) as a metaphor for faithfully resting in the grace of God. When the Well Runs Dry is a classic Christian work that can be read and relied upon again and again.
