Practical Christian Mysticism

The things you own end up owning you. It’s only after you lose everything that you’re free to do anything. ~Fight Club

Bill Talen (aka “Reverend Billy”) has gained much of my esteem. He stars in a new documentary/comedy called “What Would Jesus Buy?”. The movie is not only funny, but really hits home. Seldom does anyone stop to question consumerism, yet it runs (ruins?) our lives. Consumerism isn’t about buying things, it is about buying things we don’t need. We have created an entire culture were we work, labor, and struggle all in the hopes of buying our next… something. Continue Reading »

Religion may be becoming more and more unpopular, but Hell is considered downright offensive. The mere mention of Hell, especially an acknowledgement of its existence, can make anyone sound like a radical or religious “wacko”. Even among many Christian mystics I read or speak too, the old idea of a Hell, with it’s fire, menacing demons, creative-yet-nightmarish torments, and malevolent overlord seems rather antiquated. A black-and-white “do or die” eternal judgement bothers all but the most narrow-minded of casual philosophers. Despite all this, I do believe in Hell, and I think the current absurdities surrounding the Heaven and Hell mindset is caused by our own lack of understand and depth. Continue Reading »

St. John of the Cross is one of the major founders of Christian mysticism, his book “The Dark Night of the Soul” exhaustively outlines the spiritual process all who seek a deep mystic experience with God must go through. Basically, the book explains a period of “darkness” that all who travel the mystic path experience at some point as their own sinful nature and worldly attachments must be purged in order to continue toward enlightenment and communion with God. This experience is testified too by later mystics such as C.S. Lewis in “A Grief Observed”, and John Bunyan describes it in “A Pilgrim’s Progress”. The “darkness” is caused us having to face the sinful and perverse reality of our true self and the world around us. During this time we feel lonely, depressed, discouraged, and overwhelmed. As St. John of the Cross would explain, the darkness is not from God but from the light of God exposing our own darkness. The Dark Night of the Soul is the point at which most people give up, and usually take medication. For those who preserver, God rewards them with the secrets of His Kingdom. Continue Reading »

And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. - Jesus Christ, Matthew 10:38

“Now gird up your loins like a man…” - God speaking to Job, Job 38:3

Men and women experience God differently, likewise God requires different things from men and women. God has both feminine and masculine aspects, so men and women will each relate to parts of God the other does not. I am writing this article for what I see as a seriously lacking element in the modern male’s mystic experience… masculinity. Men today are losing touch with the manly aspects of God given to us when we were made in His image. Much of this is because men don’t even know what it means to be masculine anymore. Continue Reading »