Practical Christian Mysticism

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.