Mystics Archives
Even though we can't comprehend this fully now,
it is God's will that we should be confident that "all
will be well."
»MORE
Pop mysticisms veer from the traditions they steal from by advocating their system as a means of manipulating reality for personal benefit. True spiritual transformation - whether it is christlikeness, enlightenment, cosmic consciousness, etc. - is not about enhancing your golf game, or making life more comfortable.
»MORE
Divinization is an admittedly “troublesome term intended to articulate the capacity of every person to become holy, godlike, attuned to God, and united to the divine in every aspect of being.” By refracting the ancient tradition through the prism of our postmodern context, the wisdom of the past is made available in a new idiom for a new time.
»MORE
It is not Eckhart Tolle's desire for an authentic spirituality that I find troubling. Rather, it is the way his system inhibits true human flourishing. The human person cannot flourish when humanity, personality, and all that this encompasses - thinking, acting, feeling, etc. - are brushed aside as irrelevant, and even worse, a deceptive pathological delusion!
»MORE
Contrary to my initial wishes, the goal of Christian spirituality is not to be a brain percolating in a boiling vat of nutrients. The goal is to be a human being fully alive – all thoughts, affections, and senses experienced as channels of the divine. Our senses can be gateways instead of obstacles to God’s Spirit.
»MORE
Not every unpleasant or difficult experience is a sign of
God's displeasure. On the contrary, sometimes our most painful feelings and
distressing circumstances are the very means through which God deeply transforms us.
»MORE
Paradoxically, to reach the highest state of human existence -- the full participation of our created spirit with God's uncreated Spirit, an experience known to the ancients as divinization -- we must descend to the lowest depths of humility and self-denial.
»MORE
Much like advertisements that promise superior thrills and uncommon experiences to make us dissatisfied with our present lot in life, the powers of evil do the same to undermine God's work in the ordinary. The evil powers know that if God is not encountered in the normal channels of everyday life, then God won't be encountered at all.
»MORE
The reality of God's presence is available for all people. Because of this, we need to awaken to this reality. We need to discipline ourselves to make ourselves more aware of God's favorable and faithful presence.
»MORE
In order to see, we need
light. In order to see spiritually, we need spiritual
light.
»MORE
Everyone desires to experience home. This is why the word "home" is so precious to us. We all desire to belong to another and dwell in that belonging. No one wants to be "homeless." The story of salvation can be understood in this way: God, our true home makes his home among us (John 1:1,14) in order to make his home in us (John 14:23). God wants us to abide in him and welcome his abiding in us.
»MORE
All the ordinary places and events of our lives hold the potential to become houses of God, gateways of heaven. Every moment holds the possibility of revealing the hidden God in our midst. The reason knowing God does not consist of an endless stream of ecstatic and extraordinary experiences is because God wants us to learn to see him in the ordinary!
»MORE
God’s greatest desire is that we would live all of life
coram deo, that is, before the face of God. God is closer than we think, offering us access into the divine life. God furiously pursues us – in spite of our lethargy – and desires for us to awaken to his presence. “He is never farther than a prayer away. All it takes is the barest effort, the lift of a finger.”
»MORE
Rolheiser invites us to recognize our deep longing - and the frustration that arises from our inability to satisfy it - as an authentic indicator of true spirituality. Instead of trivializing our hunger by assuming that it can be satisfied by success, sex, or status, we must recognize it for what it truly is: a cry for God.
»MORE
Lawrence's method is simple yet profound. Life with God does not
require great theological sophistication or demand the accomplishment of great spiritual feats. The spiritual life is for everyone; for the beginner as well as the mature, the simple as well as the sophisticated.
»MORE
Johann Arndt (1555-1621) demonstrates that a true understanding of justification by faith alone does not lead to licentiousness but unleashes good works in the life of a believer for the good of all people.
»MORE
Father Joe didn't see the everyday world as separate from the sacred. He saw God everywhere, shining out from the down-to-earth and battered and untidy and defeated. He was a commonsense saint, a practical saint, a saint of imperfection.
»MORE
Sight practically monopolizes our senses. However, sight is not always reliable. Appearances can be deceiving. Our eyes are tricked by optical illusions. Because of its limitations, “we walk by faith and not by sight.” In spite of its incessant desire to rule our lives, we must put sight into its proper place.
»MORE
Authentic spiritual transformation is slow, incremental, organic, and cumulative. Like human growth, spiritual growth advances by small steps over a long time. Each step builds upon the previous step. We may speed up the process a bit through various experiences but we cannot negate any step along the way.
»MORE
Knowledge of God is possible, but only by admitting and embracing the complete inadequacy of knowledge to know God fully. Only love can embrace God's fullness and pierce the cloud of unknowing -- a cloud of darkness that arises from human limitations and God's unfathomable greatness.
»MORE
A sacred worldview assumes that the limits of human perception do not exhaust the infinite possibilities of our shared reality. It embraces the fact that reality is not what it seems to the senses – it is always more. We do not find out what is real just by seeing, touching, smelling, hearing, or tasting things.
»MORE
God uses the tensions and trials of life as a means of spiritual transformation. In pastoral care of others, we must not immediately seek to alleviate people of their pain. Sometimes, we need to invite people to embrace their pain as a means through which growth occurs. Indeed, we halt the possibility of transformation by denying or anesthetizing it.
»MORE
