Practical Christian Mysticism

I finally got to sit down and watch What the Bleep Do We Know!?, which I was interested in seeing but eluded me for a while (not many art theaters in the Bible Belt). After seeing the movie I was pretty disappointed. I was interested in the movie because I was hoping they were going to show how quantum mechanics demonstrates low little we know about the Universe. Instead, it was just a sales trick for cult weirdos who think they have all the answers. Continue Reading »

“…While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.” - Luke 15:20

Most people are familiar with “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” or “The Parable of the Lost Son”. It is a story chosen by Jesus to illustrate the mind of God at the redemption of even one of His children. As a good friend pointed out to me once, it is strange we title the story after the lost son, when the point of the story is, in fact, the Emotional God. In the parable we learn that God Himself sometimes acts on simple emotion, the best kind. Continue Reading »

Angels and demons pop-up every now and then in modern culture. People always have a fascination with what lies “across the veil” of our current reality. It’s hard because we know enough to know there is something there… but we don’t much more than that. Cult groups, pop-fiction novels, and celebrity psychics (psychos?) come around now and again to provide us tid-bits of lore and pique our interests. The real reality is that things are “across the veil” for a reason, and while it is tempting to try, they are best left there. I call this “mystic humility”, and it can save your sanity. Continue Reading »

Somehow people have confused the divine virtue of Faith with self-delusion. The power of Faith had been replaced with silly superstitions. I don’t know how this happened, (though I suspect it came from televangelists), but it has to stop. While True Faith is a blessing that allows someone to walk in the presence of God, false faith or self-delusion completely inhibits spiritual growth and makes people look down-right crazy.

The three pillars of Christian mysticism are Faith, Hope, and Love. In time, I will write similar articles for Hope and Love, but for now let’s talk about Faith (stop thinking about George Michael). Faith, put as simply as possible, is trust. To have Faith in someone is to trust them, and put your trust in them. To have Faith in God means that you trust God. Faith IS NOT belief, and especially not a belief in the existence of something. Continue Reading »

Christian mysticism is in large part about learning to become free of our carnal and materialistic desires (as is just about any form of mysticism). The world lives according to lust, not just for sex, but for everything. We are consumers: living day to day seeking after the next thing we don’t have, and once we have it, we don’t appreciate it but rather move on to the next thing we don’t have. Hence, we consume.

Today’s world has bred a culture of sexual consumerism. The female body is setup on display in checkout lanes and magazine racks like melons in the produce section. Perfume, body spray, cosmetics, and those numerous “male enhancement” emails that sit in your junk mail box are all based around a culture of people who seek out their next sexual experience like a dog seeks it’s next meal. With all this sex-hype, most people will say are unsatisfied with their sexual experiences. Continue Reading »