Last night I went to church for a little mini retreat on moving toward balance in our lives. The leader, a pastor in our denomination who runs a program for spiritual directors, had a lot to say about moving through hard times. He said that the dark night of the soul can be a way of stripping away the ego and revealing the true self. He spoke of God's love always being available to us, and that when times are tough, the question is, "What is God's invitation to me in this hard time?" It was just what I needed to hear.