“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” – Benjamin Franklin

We humans tend to live in extremes.  Most people who drink, drink to get drunk.  If not, it is because they don’t drink at all.  Most people who smoke, chain smoke packs of cigarettes a day.  The rest of us stare them down while exaggerating our coughs to show how disgusting they are.  We gorge ourselves on fatty foods, or obsessively count calories (or carbs).  We surround ourselves with sexually charged entertainment, or blush at statues in the local art gallery.  This is our nature, which is the whole reason temperance was once a virtue we strived for, because it is so contrary to our nature but oh-so good for us!

In all things in life that bring us pleasure, there is the possibility of also bringing us harm.  Everyone has heard the phrases “all things in moderation” or “too much of anything is a bad thing”.  It would seem that those who fear for their moral or physical health tend to therefore conclude, “if it could be bad for me, why do it at all?”, or worse, “if it can be bad for you at all, then it is bad, period.”

People usually laugh and shrug off the quote by Benjamin Franklin I included at the top of this article, and while it is obviously somewhat hyperbolical, I believe the sentiment is accurate.  Just about every pleasurable thing on this earth was meant, by God, to do just that – to bring us pleasure.  The only alternative is that God all these things on earth purely as temptation to torment us, which is not something I find reasonable.

But there is more to it than pleasure, I believe that just like work, God made play as something to be mastered, which brings me back to temperance.  Food is better for us when prepared with love and labor, the worst food we have is “fast food”.  Wine is better when created by artisans who have worked hard, and then let the wine age over time.  Cigars have been enjoyed for ages with little guilt, but it is cigarettes that are killing us.

When we seek to master our pleasures, they become even more beneficial to us.  When we seek to cheaply consume our pleasures, out of pure gluttony, they produce in us all kinds of illness and mental disturbances.  Recent medical science has shown us the drastic contrast as moderate drinking is so good for us, and heavy drinking is so harmful (just Google “Moderate alcohol intake”).

And who drinks “moderately”?… People who enjoy quality wines, good beers, and fine spirits.  No one buys Bud Light to “savor the taste”.  People who smoke less than once a week don’t smoke cigarettes (or at least not the kind you find as gas stations), and those who have truly healthy sex lives, aren’t to be found at your local strip club.

So would this have to do with Christian Mysticism?  Well, it is hard to find a more effective way to balance the spirit, but taming and mastering the appetites of the body.  Not to be sanctimonious, and often self-abusive, by pursuing some kind of unnatural abstinence from all pleasures, but to be in control.  Using the earth God gave to us as a tool, using what we have, and not being used by it.  For the man who has dominance over his “vices” is healthier than the man who is dominated by them, and happier than the one who hides in fear of them.  Maybe Adam Ant was right after all….

“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected when received with thanksgiving…” 1 Timothy 4:4

NOTE:  Image at the top from the window of “The Men’s Toy Shop” in Nashville, IN.  A wonderfully old-fashined small business run by great people, stop by if you can!

Technorati Tags: Abstinence, Christian Mysticism, Gluttony, Temperance

We are all born pagan. I realize how harsh that sounds, but just think about it. Idol worship and superstition come naturally to us. We quickly develop rituals to help our favorite sports teams have “good luck”. Gamblers blow on dice, lottery players have lucky numbers, and Friday the 13th still brings out caution in many (and maybe a rabbit’s foot or two). Even those of us enlightened “mono-theists” have our own methods of bargaining with “forces out of our control” to try to get what we want.

I see a lot of mutual frustration among well meaning pastors and active laity in their efforts to inspire and motivate their bothers and sisters toward a productive faith. I have thought much on the dilemma, on what it is which holds us back, and the best term I could come up with to describe it was “The God Bargain”. The sad truth is so many people approach Christianity as a method of appeasing God as opposed to actually just obeying God. Its a bargain, “God, I will do what you want if you help me *insert favor*”.

PERSONIFYING CHAOS

Many things in life are beyond our control. It would seem humanity as a whole has developed a habit of personifying everything we can’t directly manage. All pagan cultures throughout time have created gods for fertility, harvest, weather, hunting (ample game), love, and health… all the things we can’t directly control (or couldn’t until recently). Throughout the years of human history, man has taken everything out of his control, assigned it a god, and tried to gain that god’s favor. (Notice there are no ancient gods for “get your ass out of bed”, hard work, perseverance, charity, forgiveness, or rehab.)

Now that we live in a Judeo-Christian culture, we just take all those things out of our province and blame one God for them. Which leads me to ask this question: Aren’t we just being pagan if all we have done is consolidated our gods together but still think and behave the same? How have we changed if our prayers, rituals, and sacrifices are done in the hopes of getting good fortune from an appeased God?

IS GOOD LUCK DIVINE?

“that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” Matthew 5:45

So the question is becomes, just how should we approach good luck/fortune or bad? Is good fortune a sign of God’s approval, and bad fortune a sign of God’s punishment? NO! Emphatically, I say it is not. Any kind of assumption regarding fortune and God creates a kind of insanity. Are we to question our purity when lightning strikes our home and destroys our DVD player? Are we to assume our sins have gone overlooked when we find a twenty dollar bill in our coat pocket left from last winter? Is our sports team more in favor with God the year they won, and offending Him the year they loose (in which we can only conclude that one sports team can appease God at a time)? To look for “omens of fortune” to interpret God’s Will drives us to paranoia.

Life is hard for everyone, period, and God does not show favoritism. Expecting life’s challenges to go away, or diminish just because we are on “God’s side” is foolish and arrogant. If one looks at Scripture we find just the opposite, Jesus warns us to expect life to actually get HARDER when we choose to follow Him. True Christian discipleship is not the way of safety and comfort, it is the Way of the Cross.

LIFE DOESN’T CHANGE, WE DO

So as the blog title says (look out! shameless self-promotion coming up), let’s bring this back to some practical Christian Mysticism (told ya!). We don’t follow Jesus Christ for some shallow hope in worldly blessings, we carry our Cross because we are convicted of our own need to change. Discipleship isn’t about DOING it is about BECOMING. We strive to become like Christ, but more accurately, we strive to become what Christ intended us to be.

The world around us changes; not because we have favor with God, but because when we seek the face of God we change and begin to effect the world. Life doesn’t get easier, we get stronger. Our fortunes don’t improve, they just become less relevant. If we truly believe God loves us, and we cannot earn or lose this love, then it is not God who changes His attitude toward us, we change our attitude toward God.

STOP BARGAINING

Everyone starts their spiritual and religious journeys with pagan/superstitious habits of some kind. It is just our nature, and it takes time to mature. I write this article in large part from self-reflection of my own habits. I often find myself loosing perspective and trying my own bargains. However, I see many people struggle because they bargain with God and use that as the basis for their faith. I see people live “moral” or religious lives in hopes of convincing God to give them something, just to become jaded and discouraged.

Bargaining with God cheapens faith and robs us of the true blessings God has for us. There is so much to learn, to discover, and experience in life. When we use our religion as a bargaining tool, we keep ourselves stuck in a worldly perspective. We may believe in a God, but we are keeping our hearts in material and shallow concerns. Besides, we don’t get any credit for “believing”:

“You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble.” James 2:19

GOD’S GRACE

“Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.” 2 Corinthians 12:8-9

To temper this article a bit, I want to end with God’s grace. Grace is something we all have access to, but is not to be confused with luck, fortune, or even blessings. Just like God’s love, we don’t earn God’s grace, it is given. God gives His grace so we can have room to grow and mature in Christ. If God did not give His grace, we would be crushed under the weight of our own sins and foolishness.

God gives grace to us generously, and all who trust in God enough to just go out into the world and live experience it. The grace we receive is sufficient for us to learn from our mistakes and have a chance to recover from them. God’s grace is sufficient for us to grow each day, not being dragged down by what we were before.

A FATHER, NOT A DEALER

God is our Father, not a tradesman. Does a good father demand actions from a child before offering his love (I said “good” father)? Does a good father wait for his child to grow up and prove himself before he takes the child into his home? So why do we think of God this way? Everything God has for us, He has already given, which means it is up to us to seek it, accept it, and live it.

Related Article: Our Abundant Common Grace

Technorati Tags: Christian Mysticism, God bargain, God bargaining, God's Grace

Man wants to be free, but always looks for a king to rule him. A strange contraction in human nature. The truth is, when things are great and seem to be under our control, we just want to be left alone. We don’t want anyone to tell us what to do when we have what we want, and we gladly take credit for our own fortune. However, when things get bad, we cry for a savior and blame anyone but ourselves for the troubles we find ourselves in. (Hmm… I think I just defined both political ideologies) Everyone has varying degrees of each in their lives, but this article is about the latter: Our search for a messiah to save us from our troubles. The sad truth is, we had one, but we didn’t like what he had to offer.

There is another prevalent contradiction of human nature. We so readily look to the mystical, the divine, and the spiritual to solve our material, carnal, and temporal desires. God gave us freewill, and yet we take every opportunity to convince ourselves and others that we are helpless victims and without the power of choice. We blame society, circumstances, and other people for our lives and then look to someone or something to swoop in and save us from our persecution.

Jesus encountered these paradoxes frequently during His time in our reality. As people confessed Him to be the Messiah, they then turned to Him to solve the troubles and conflicts of their own world. While Jesus did many miracles of physical healing and material provision during his ministry, He stopped short of what people really wanted from Him… political and social conquest.

The Crucifixion was a bewilderment to the disciples. When Jesus tried to tell His disciples of His rapidly encroaching tribulation, Peter responded saying, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” As what was surely a shock to such a passionate expression of concern, Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan! you are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Why did Jesus react this way? It was because Peter, like many of his time, were looking at Jesus as a “material messiah”. Peter was looking for Jesus to free the Jews from Rome and establish a great earthly nation of which Jesus would reign over. Of course, this did not happen, nor was it supposed to. Instead, Jesus gave us something else… individual redemption and spiritual freedom.

It is not hard today to see that we are born as slaves to sin. Any Alcoholics Anonymous councilor, or rehab specialist, can tell you that man is often lacking “something” needed to take control of his own life. Jesus knew this, and offered man redemption through repentance. Through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and then later gift of the Holy Spirit, God gave us the chance and the power to became the individuals He created us to be in the first place.

Jesus came, and then left, and He left us with nothing more or less than what we needed to truly live. And truth be told, most of us hate HIm for it. We didn’t want “spiritual” redemption, we wanted physical redemption. We wanted someone to give us a steady income, a worry-free life, a safe home, and good health.  We didn’t want to have a path open to begin a relationship with God, we wanted path open to a new car (Ok, nerds… would ” new chariot” be more historically accurate for you?). Jesus and the disciples tell us to look at life’s sufferings as a challenge and gift unique to this life… but we would have preferred Jesus left the receipt so we could have exchanged it for a new expresso machine.

Now today, we still have our many problems and troubles, all of which we brought on ourselves with our own greed and selfishness. Instead of looking at our own failures, we look once again for a leader, a savior, a messiah to fix it all for us and make our lives better. Little do we realize the only way that will ever happen is if we do it ourselves. We must repent, face our sins, and seek forgiveness. Only then will we see clearly enough to fix our own mess.

Technorati Tags: Christian Mysticism, fake messiahs, Jesus Christ, material messiahs, political saviors

As a life-long C.S. Lewis fan, I always enjoy taking a minute and reflecting on the many contributions he made to Christian Mysticism.  I especially enjoy addressing the lessons inferred amidst his fictional writings.  One of my favorite mystical lessons, is the lesson of the wardrobe.  In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe C.S. Lewis teaches us a great lesson about seeking a relationship with the Living God… you can’t find God in the same place twice.

“I don’t think it will be any good trying to go back through the wardrobe door to get the coats.  You won’t get back to Narnia again by that route… Yes, of course you’ll get back to Narnia again someday… But don’t go trying to use the same route twice. Indeed, don’t try to get there at all.  It’ll happen when you’re not looking for it.”  – The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, the Professor talking to the children who just left Narnia.

Everyone who seeks after God, has encountered Him at some point in their lives.  There is always some point where God’s presence is so clear, that we ever wondered why we doubted.  But then the moment passes, and passes, and fades.  After a while we wonder if we experienced it at all.  In an existential panic, we try to recreate the experience, only doing more to prove to ourselves it never happened in the first place.

Let’s take the Professor’s advice here.  We should no go back and look for God where we previously encountered Him, rather we should move forward without looking at all.  Where would Moses have been had be returned to the burning bush for a fresh dose of prophetic inspiration, rather than moving forward with the task he had already been given?  Where would Paul have been traveling back to Damascus to look for a bright light?  Our encounters with the Divine are singularly unique, and it is our fault, not God’s, that we forget them so easily.

It is also part of how God encourages our continual growth and maturity.  If God stayed in the same place, so would we.  Rather, God reveals Himself at moments we need Him most, then moves on, hoping we will continue to seek Him.  As we move on, out of obedience, we find God without looking, and in a way we had never experienced before.

Technorati Tags: C.S. Lewis, Christian Mysticism, living God, Seeking God, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe

“If you want peace, work for justice.” – Pope Paul VI
“If you want justice, work for chastity.” – Pope John Paul II

This begins a serious of articles I have decided to write in defense of the Catholic Church and her controversial teachings in our current post-modern culture. I have entitled this series “Catholisense” because this is a mystical apologetic rather than a theological one. It is my belief that the presence and teachings of the Catholic Church are not outdated or irrelevant but rather necessary. Indeed, I will argue it is the very presence alone of the Catholic Church and the Vatican that is preventing our society from falling off a cliff of self destruction.

The first argument I am presenting is the need for “Moral Idealism”. There is an ever growing outrage toward what people are calling “unrealistic” morality in the Catholic Church’s teachings on monogamy, sex, abortion, and birth control. Even other religious institutions of morality, such as the evangelical community, find the Vatican’s positions on these issues to be extreme. Even within the Catholic Church itself, many members have given up or refused to follow Church teaching on the grounds of it being “unrealistic” in contemporary society.

Assuming, for the moment, that developing and legislating societies of people based on Catholic morality is unrealistic, does that make the ideal irrelevant? There is so much anger directed at the Vatican for maintaining a seemingly unachievable stance on morality, but have we ever stopped to think what would happen to societal development if those standards and ideals of morality did not exist?

Think about this for a minute: even though fornication, adultery, and divorce are so rampant in our society it seems impossible to stop, what would happen if the ideal of monogamous marriage did not exist? What would happen to our society if we felt no guilt, no obligation, and no responsibility to attempt monogamous and stable marriages? Think about how much good the remaining population of healthy families and stable households does to preserve society and keep peace in our world. If there were no families, no stable marriages, and no obligation for family unity, how would even the most basic of social services be possible?

Let’s look at birth control as well. While persuasive arguments can be made for restricting the birth rate in impoverished regions, encouraging “family planning”, and preventing pregnancy in the unprepared young, what would happen if we stopped seeing the harm in preventing life to serve the living? What if we no longer saw human life as sacred or special, and became completely unhindered in controlling new life? What would happen if we only allowed the birth of people who we, in our own frail understanding of the universe, felt were worthy or deserved of existence?

More than morality, the Catholic Church presents us with an ideal. It gives us a vision of a society of self-sufficient families. Families full of love, commitment, strength, discipline, and charity. Families capable of successfully raising their own children. Families who contribute to society, as opposed to burdening it. Families strong enough to absorb the pains and injustices of life.

The Catholic Church gives a society where sexuality is a wonderful force of new life and blessing, rather than a burdensome drain where such a large portion of social resources are dedicated just to containing and dealing with the consequences.

The Catholic Church shows us a world where each and every human life is a blessing and a source of joy, rather than the anxiety filled gamble modern parents face as to whether or not their child’s existence will be “acceptable”.

The strongest argument for the Catholic Church’s ideal teachings on morality is that it is not an unachievable ideal at all. While it may seem like so few, there are still many families who live out the ideals of the Catholic Church every day. They are blessings to society because they prove the ideal is real. Their children grow to be productive and beneficial members of society, and their households become safe havens to all who know them from the chaos and darkness of the rest of the world.

The Vatican is the “city on a hill” not just in the real world, but in our collective subconscious. If it were not for the presence of this one remaining organized bastion of moral consciousness, we would be left unhindered to topple into amoral chaos. Even for those of us (myself included) who fail to live up to the standards and ideals set forth by the Catholic Church, having those standards preserved in the world today creates an anchor for our minds. We all, Catholic or not, benefit from those ideals.

Technorati Tags: abortion, birth control, Catholic Church, Catholic Mysticism, Catholisense, Christian Mysticism, moral idealism, sexuality, Vatican

“What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose their souls?” Luke 9:25
“To be proud with wealth and honor is to sow the seeds ofyour own downfall.” Tao Te Ching 9

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21
“The sage wears rough clothing and holds the jewel in his heart.” Tao Te Ching 70

“The least among all you of is the greatest.” Luke 9:49
“The best of people is like water. Water gives life to all things and does not compete with them. It flows in places people reject and so is like the Tao.” Tao Te Ching 8

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Technorati Tags: Christian Mysticism, Lao Tzu, Tao of Christ, Tao of Jesus, Tao Te Ching, Teachings of Jesus

Can you answer YES to more than two of the following questions:

1) Does your library consist mostly of books old enough to be public domain…
2) …and have to be translated from the original language (even if it was technically English)?
3) Are your heroes and roles models all dead (but always with you in spirit)?
4) Can you say “have a blessed day” with a straight face?
5) Do you have have the tendency to fold your hands, close your eyes, and nod slowly when listening to others?
6) Do you use the word “Universe” in casual conversations unrelated to astronomy?

OK seriously, I have given a lot of though lately into what those who call themselves mystics, or consider themselves inclined to mystical pursuits, have in common.   What is it that allows us to recognize each other?  What makes us love ancient writings like the Tao Te Ching or Dark Night of the Soul, which seldom see the light of day otherwise.  What motivates us to live lives so out of sync with the world around us?  And with a full understanding of the risk of oversimplifying, I believe it comes down to two things: A desire to be connected with God, and the conviction that connection is achieved through the continual refinement, renewal, and reformation of our own innermost selves.

It is dangerous to try to define a group of people, especially a diverse one,  so I immediately apologize to all who would feel my description is insufficient or incorrect.  I simply wish to defines terms for those who have little previous contact with mysticism, or are wondering if they should consider themselves mystics.  I feel the terms fit because an athlete is one who perfects his body and physical self, his goal is to compete.  A theologian perfects his knowledge, his goal is to educate and preserve truth.  An apologist perfects his understanding, his goal is to defend truth.  A businessman perfects his method, his goal is to succeed.  A mystic perfects his heart, his goal is to break down the barriers between himself and God.

None of these roles are mutually exclusive.  One may even find he is all those things at one point in his life.  Therein lies my point, a mystic is not a mystic in spite of other roles, but a role anyone can take.  I call myself a “mystic” because, like a CEO or professional athlete, I choose to focus on it as a role very important to me.  It is also a role I feel many people need in their lives.  Not everyone is a professional athlete, but being physically fit is good for everyone.  I believe likewise with mystical pursuits.

Here is where I am asked, “Isn’t all religion a desire to be connected with God?  What is the difference between mysticism and religion?”

Well, there probably should not be such a difference, or at least no more difference than there is from a car and an engine.  Somehow, people have gotten the misunderstanding religion is simply a set of beliefs and (optional) rituals.  (How this happened is a topic for another time)  In truth, no great religious leader, of any religion, teaches this.  All religious leaders are trying to help their congregations explore the mystical, and connect with God.  (Bob Jones excluded)  Christianity is no exception.  I know so many pastors and priests to are desperately trying to inspire their congregations, and open their minds to the true depths and wonders of faith. (Ever try to pep-talk a boulder?)

It should be noted true religion does exceeds mysticism.  Mysticism is intimate, and all discourse on mysticism is hardly doctrinal.  True spirituality is both between man and God, as well as man and man.  Christianity especially is a faith of fellowship.  Anytime you have a congregation of people, there are external rules, rituals, and organization.  These things are not holy or unholy of themselves, but simply are.  As Christian mystics we live of the paradox of seeking intimacy with God by lifting up and edifying one another.  It is probably the greatest difference between other mystic pursuits and Christian mysticism, that ours is a mysticism of outward fellowship as well as inward.

Christian mysticism is about the passionate pursuit of the Father through the Son.  We journey along the narrow path forged by Jesus Christ, ever seeking the Face of God.  We encourage and edify our brothers and sisters, yet in the end, are left with the responsibility of our own internal state.  As opposed to the secular perception of religion, each man is responsible for his own soul, and still has the power to help the souls of others.

So are you a mystic?  Well, I guess you and God are the only ones who can answer that.

Technorati Tags: Christian Mysticism, christian mystics, mysticism

In light of the upcoming holidays, (Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day), I thought it would be appropriate to talk about the nature of death and how it applies to Christian mysticism.  The dead and departed has been one of the areas in my thinking which has undergone the most change since entering the Catholic Church.   It has not changed much from a doctrinal or theological perspective, but rather from the perspective of awareness.  Where I once divided my world view into the world of the living and the afterlife, I now realize the present life and the afterlife are intertwined within the Body of Christ.

The Communion of Saints

One of my favorite teachings in the Catholic Church is that we have spiritual solidarity, not only with other believers, but with the souls of our brothers and sisters who have passed on.*  The Body of Christ is not simply the community of those presently with us, but a community of all those who have come before us as well.

This is practiced not only in thought, but in praying the to Saints for intercession.  Just as we ask our brothers and sisters to pray for us, we also ask those who have finished the race to pray for us as well.  While many may feel the practice of praying to Saints is silly or even heretical, I find this practice creates a great feeling of strength and encouragement.  It is so empowering to know and experience the cheering-on and lifting-up from those who have already lived and died for Christ and know what we are going through.

Our Extended Family

As many families have experienced, my wife and I went through a miscarriage.  My perspective at the time was still very much on what was living and physical, so while disappointing, I didn’t really know how to digest the early loss of our child.  My wife, of course, felt the loss much more than I, but I was unable to relate.

My time and reading in the Catholic Church eventually allowed me to realize that our child was a member of the family from the moment of conception, and still is.  While not able to get to know her (our child) in this world, she is a new life and a new soul that is now a permanent part of the Body of Christ.  I was finally able to have an emotional connection to a soul I was previously unaware of.

Honoring the Dead

While many Christians see Halloween as a pagan holiday, All Hallow’s Eve, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day are embraced by the Catholic Church as a time for acknowledging, honoring, and connecting to our brothers, sisters, and family across the veil.  We take time to reflect on the absence left in our lives by those we have lost.  We meditate on their very real presence in the Body of Christ.  And we remind ourselves of our true hope in the inevitable return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the the new earth.

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
- 1 Cor. 15:55

Death is an event to be embraced by those who put their faith in Jesus Christ.  It is our victory, and it just makes sense to take time out during the year to celebrate it, remind ourselves of it, and even to reflect and make sure we are prepared for it.

If you have never taken this holiday seriously, or have been on of those families who turn the lights off and take cover from the “scary devil children” asking for candy and treats waiting for it all to pass over, I suggest a different idea.  Take this time of year to celebrate it’s original intent: to connect with the whole Body of Christ.

Reference:

* http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p123a9p5.htm#958

Technorati Tags: All Hallow's Eve, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Catholic Mysticism, Christian Mysticism, communion of saints, Halloween

“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thes. 5:16-18

When Paul wrote the words “Pray without ceasing”, he opened up a Pandora’s box of misunderstanding for the overzealous and obsessive-compulsive types that endures to this very day. Indeed this passage seems to fall into two opposite pendulum swings of interpretation. On the one-hand, there are a few who actually attempt some sort of incessant repetition throughout their day, and then the greater majority who just chalk it up to hyperbole and just give up all together. The truth is that prayer without cessation is truly blessed discipline that enriches our lives, and is surprisingly not so difficult to carry out.

Christian mysticism has long revolved around the concept of “contemplative prayer”. Contemplative prayer, though it has a wide range of methods and definitions, I would personally define it as the act of listening to God. In memorized prayer, liturgical prayer, and most other forms of prayer, we are often speaking to God (or worse, AT God). Contemplative prayer is intentionally making an effort to prepare and calm one’s self to listen and receive. I also like to think of contemplative prayer as our way of fulfilling the oft-forgot command to “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10/11)

Along with contemplative prayer is yet another concept of prayer, to “walk with God”. This concept was introduced with the person of Enoch (Gen. 5:21-24) who was so close to God he was simply taken up to be with God. The idea of walking with God has fascinated me ever since my youth as such a powerful picture of how far our relationship with God can go. When Paul said to “Pray without ceasing” I believe that this is closer to what he had in mind.

To walk with God, at it’s most basic, is turning prayer, both the traditional and contemplative forms, into an unending awareness of God’s presence and continuing conversation with Him. If we truly master unceasing prayer, we live with a constant assurance of God’s presence in our daily lives. Our connection with God becomes like a friend, or more accurately a father, who is always present and available… as if we were walking with God through life’s journey.

The methods of practicing this unceasing prayer are nothing beyond the most basic advise already given in Scripture. We should do our daily work as if for God, and pay attention to what our work shows us about our own character and maturity. We should view our interactions with others as opportunities to grow our love and humility.  We should see every moment of our lives as a constant relationship with the Creator who formed the world around us.

So how is praying unceasingly different from just living as Christians? No more different than fuel is different from a car. By living with an intentional effort to be aware of God’s constant presence in our lives, and taking frequent opportunities during the day to listen to what God is trying to teach us, we turn the secular to sacred and bring wonder to the mundane. This is not meant as a replacement to traditional, liturgical, or contemplative prayer, but simply as a complement.  To live a life where we are always in a state of prayer of some kind it to walk with God.  I would consider this the essence of practical mysticism.

Technorati Tags: Christian Mysticism, contemplative prayer, pray without ceasing, prayer without ceasing, walk with God

As a mystic, I try to practice caution around areas of private revelation. I usually avoid talking about things I learn solely through personal experience. However, I have been so blessed by my more recent discoveries concerning Grace, that I felt compelled to write about it. My Dad says, “For those who truly believe in God, the evidence of His presence is everywhere. For those who don’t believe, they live in a world with no God.” The subtlety of God’s providence is such that we can easily turn a blind eye. To those to take the time to pay (pray) attention, God’s Grace is so abundant in our everyday lives it is humiliating to think what we would do without Him.

Work has been going well for me, very well. Recently I had teamed up with a friend of mine to start a new business. It was a great chance for me to try out my various “mystic” philosophies in business without restraint. Things have been going so well, that I felt my ego begin to inflate. (I have a pretty big head to begin with, if I don’t keep an eye on it, I won’t be able to wear any of my hats) Anywho… told God that somewhere in the back of my [enormous] head I know He is making this possible, but I wanted Him to help me become aware of where my efforts end, and His Grace begins.

What I learned was amazing, humbling, and encouraging.  I discovered that while I was busy trying to manage my life the best I can, God was managing me.  It was a spectacular feeling of the “Father” in God the Father.  I saw, and continue to see, so many instances where I let something important fall through the cracks, and then God picked it up for me.

Sometimes God’s involvement in our lives can be very obvious.  Most of us can think of a time we were paying less-than-perfect attention while driving, just to have something happen to narrowly save us from a horrible accident.  What really surprised me was how constantly present and frequently providential God’s Grace is.  In many ways, it has changed my thinking.

I used to believe in a more “hands-off” God.  Not from any kind of cynicism, it just seemed to me Creation was so well made, and the systems so perfectly in place, God didn’t really need to do much interfering.  While that remains true, what I learned instead is God chooses to be “hands on” in our lives, not as a necessity, but as a matter of mercy. Without the continued Grace of God, our lives would be very different (and probably much shorter).

I have heard several eschatologists (people who study prophecy in Scripture) talk about how one of the disasters to befall man at the end of time will be that God simply removes His Spirit from the world for a period of time.  I think that will be the worst disaster of all.  The morbid part of my sense of humor gets a chuckle picturing all cars throughout the world crashing at once.

What really surprised me was I learned this same Grace God provides me in day to day life is something He gives to everyone.  You may be thinking, “How arrogant of you to assume otherwise,” but I have to admit it is a surprise to see how much God offers this Grace to even those who are still rejecting Him entirely.   I didn’t think I was the only one, but I also didn’t expect that.

What really hit me through all this was the question, “God, if you are giving me this much Grace now, why didn’t you give this Grace to me back when life was so hard?” and the answer was simple.  God WAS giving me this Grace all the time, I was just REALLY screwing up.  There is so much I have learned about myself, and so much God has changed in me.  I realize all the pain I have experienced has not only been necessary to keep me growing, but was only a fraction of what it could have been. God’s Grace made sure I only experienced the pain I needed to keep moving forward.

All God was needing from me was the faith to step out and live my life.  I have made many mistakes, and while I know God wants me to learn from them, He also protects me from the full brunt of my shortcomings.  God truly is the FATHER, pushing us to grow, letting us step out on our own, but always ready to catch us and get us back up.  It is such a euphoric spiritual romance.

After this, I was really hit hard by what this means about the human condition.  I know a lot of people who live what they would call “miserable” lives.  To see God’s Grace acting in their lives made me realize that just about all our misery is self-inflicted.  With all God’s Grace, we actually have to try to make life suck, and yet, we still do.  I wrote an article a while back about how we create our own personal hells, but now with the context of the Common Grace God provides to all mankind, I am more convinced than ever about our responsibility for our own spiritual condition.

Repentance isn’t a negative or judgmental concept, it is a beautiful miracle where man can leave his squaller behind and run back to a loving FATHER.  When Christ came to save us, it wasn’t about Heaven and Hell, it was about saving us from our own misery. And that is probably the best definition of sin I can think of, to cling to misery when we could embrace God’s Grace.

Technorati Tags: Christian Mysticism, common grace, God's Grace, grace