Mysticism is a mystery. For some mysticism means an ocean of sparking spirituality found outside the narrow bounds of the darkened pools of religion. For some mysticism means the purest waters at the very source of their religion. The mystics have been a great help in the pilgrimage of my life. For me, they have been lifeguards along the shore.
There is an old story about a medieval peasant. The peasant sat in the back of the church day after day, hour after hour. This led to someone asking him what he was doing sitting in the back of the church every day the peasant replied,
“I gaze at him and he gazes at me.”
Perhaps that peasant was a madman. Maybe he was a mystic. Whoever they are, peasant or prince, physician or plumber, a mystic possesses an unusual awareness of God.
(I was going to ask you whether I’m a madman or mystic. I thought better of the idea and decided to move on. 😊)
What is a Mystic?
Evelyn Underhill in her book, “The Mystics of the Church,” writes,
“The Christian mystic is one for whom God and Christ are not merely objects of belief, but living facts experientially know and mysticism for him becomes, in so far as he responds to its demands, a life based on a conscious communion with God.”
The Apostle Paul had mystical experiences. For instance, the experience he had during his conversion. In Acts 9 Paul loses his sight and hears the resurrected Jesus speak,
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me.”
Paul’s visionary experience as recorded in 2 Corinthians 2:12 is a mystical one,
“I know a person who was caught up into Paradise” (12:3).
Some mystics report extraordinary experiences of prayer. For example, extraordinary encounters with God in the form of extraordinary phenomena, such as miracles, visions, and voices. Over the centuries the great teachers of prayer warn us that that focusing on the extraordinary aspects of prayer will usually hurl us off the mountain of genuine mystical experience. 🌄
[I thought about mentioning my extraordinary ability to use the word extraordinary, but again, moving on.]
What is the Goal of Mysticism?
The primary goal of the Christian mystics has been not the possession of extraordinary powers. It has not about the accumulation of extraordinary experiences. The primary goal of the mystics has been possession by God. The mystic desires union with God, not merely knowledge about God.
Therefore, spiritual graces or gifts the mystic receives while pursuing union with God are incidental. Such gifts might even be distractions from the mystic’s relationship with God and neighbor.
Some, like the Apostle Paul, became mystics unexpectedly. The majority of mystics have sought to crank open the cottage windows of their souls to the warm sunglow of the Holy Spirit. How have mystics done this? By loving their neighbors, meditating on Scripture and praying, with and without words. Prayer has been the ordinary threshold into the deeper waters of God.
Walter Hilton, the 14th century English mystic, writes,
“Then ask from God nothing but this gift of love, which is the Holy Spirit. For of all the gifts that our Lord gives, none is so good or so profitable, so valuable or excellent as this; for there is no gift of God that is both the giver and the gift, except this gift of love”
(The Scale of Perfection, 2:36).
Mysticism Rooted in Jesus Christ
Hilton, like many mystics, finds the garden gate to God in Jesus Christ. Not all mystics locate their mystical experience in Jesus Christ. Some speak of their mystical experience in terms of unknowing, an ineffable experience difficult to translate into words. The goal is to go past intellectual knowledge of a theological claim. To go past knowing about the claim that “God is love” to experiencing that claim in relationship with God.
“I gaze at him and he gazes at me.”
Great! Some individuals experience their relationship with God in profound ways. Ways that you and I probably do not on a regular basis. We call them mystics. This is true. Their witness to the warm waters of God’s love tells us that there is more for us to explore and experience in our own lives of faith and prayer. They can be for us lifeguards along the shores of a deeper spirituality. 🏊♀️
Wait? Are All Christians Mystics?
Hold that thought…
Contemplation is part of mysticism. In the general sense, contemplation is a set of practices as well as posture toward life that make space for and facilitate an ongoing awareness of God. All Christians engage in contemplative moments. Some Christians are called to the contemplative life.
A contemplative life can be lived in a monastery. It can, with some care, be lived elsewhere. The witness of history has been that most of us as Christians are not called to the contemplative life. Most of us are called to what has been called the active life. The active life focuses less on deep prayer and more on relationships and responsibilities to other people.
Back to that thought: Is every Christian a mystic? Or should they be? One perspective on that question was offered by theologian and writer, Karl Rahner S.J.
“The Christian of the future will be a mystic or he will not exist at all.”
If Father Rahner meant that in the face of increasingly secularization, only those who have experienced the reality of God will persist in their faith, I agree that experience of, not just facts about faith, is important.
If Fr. Rahner meant that every Christian in the future must have extraordinary mystical experiences with God to persist in their faith, I disagree. Through the best and worst of human history, from times of prosperity, to times of persecution, Christians have persisted in their faith. Usually, they have persisted in their faith by loving God and loving others without any report of extraordinary mystical experiences.
[Notice the masterful inclusion of that word again. You might say my talent for it is, wait for it…extraordinary Oh, never mind! 🙄 ]
Mysticism: An Active Question
Spiritual theologians and teachers of prayer disagree whether contemplative living and mystical experiences are for all Christians. The Church and the world is sustained and strengthened in ways beyond our limited comprehension by those who commit themselves to seeking union with God through deeper states of prayer. Their prayers lift us all.
Mysticism is a mystery. For the Christian it is an immersion into the lifegiving waters of God’s love. Mystics are spiritual swimmers seeking the swift currents of the Kingdom of God. In baptism, maybe all Christians splash into the mystical depths of the ocean of grace, no matter how quickly they swim for the dry land.
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“[T]heir goal has been to be possessed by God. The mystic desires union with God, not merely knowledge about God. If special gifts are given in pursuit of this union, the mystic says in effect, so be it, if not, so be it.” In this sense, it seems all Christians should be mystics. Perhaps the mystic lives the surrendered life – not partial surrender, but fully surrendered and possessed. I’m not sure we can be possessed unless we surrender first. Not that we ever do it perfectly, but we pursue it! And I do believe some are fitted more to the mystic life than others, perhaps by calling, circumstance or constitution.
I like the word contemplation. We may contemplate more than we realize. Worry, I feel, can be a form of contemplation. In essence, it’s a “way of organizing our lives that [is] intended to make space for and facilitate an ongoing awareness [of all that is going wrong or that may go wrong in the future].”
Just my thoughts. And I say mystic, not madman!
Bonnie, thank you for your thoughtful response. Surrender is a good word. There is an acceptance, a submitting, a “your will more in my life God” that characterizes many of the mystics. Interestingly, sometimes God simply shows up (like with the Apostle Paul) and it seems less of a surrender by the human being and more of a divine “ambush” by God.
While this divine surprise and showing may come unexpectedly and be nothing more than a gift of God the human being still has to live within the grace of that gift. We see that in the life of the Apostle Paul and many others.
Yes, contemplation. All of us as Christians can benefit from contemplation. Contemplation can free us from worry. Worry can also be an obstacle or distraction to contemplation. Worry can also inspire contemplation as I think you are suggesting. Blessings. Oh…and glad you didn’t vote madman!
Love how that happens sometimes – divine surprise, ambush! – when we’re riding our horse or brushing our teeth or whatever. Reminds me how undeserving I am and how great is His grace.
His ways are past finding out, but still we’re invited to seek and contemplate and bask in His Presence. Immanuel, God with us!
“His ways are past finding out, but still we’re invited to seek and contemplate and bask in His Presence. Immanuel. God with us!”
Yes, indeed. Great point. Thanks for sharing.
It sounds to me like Father Goodrich is saying that mystics are people who desire a particularly intimate relationship with God, one in which God is not only savior, master, and Abba Father, but also BFF. What a wonderful idea! Awesome things happen when we embrace God wholeheartedly like that!
Madelynne, I add my amen to your “Awesome things happens when we embrace God wholeheartedly like that.” Mystics have, nurture, and pursue that desire for a intimate relationship with God. Importantly, they experience God in that kind of relationship. They understand this experience not as something they have earned, but something God has graciously given them as a gift, an undeserved grace.
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