So, imo, spiritual direction is an imperative. Accountability against the ego is so important.

I’ve also learned through my experiences that “true” mystical, One-ness experiences with God will, above all else, humble me. I grew up being told by the church to stay away from mysticism (which was always paired together with New Age-ism which I now find bizarre) because it’s evil. And you know what? Without proper guidance, it certainly can be. But to put a blanket statement on the whole of it is also evil.

But back to humility – that’s my measuring stick. If the experience doesn’t fully ground me in God and instead, flatters me, feeds my vanity, makes me feel good about my spirituality or anything, really, then I was doin’ it rong.

This is actually really difficult to talk and write about, which is why this post is now far too long and rambley.

I especially liked your point about the long meal vs. the quick fix. Maybe mysticism and the variety of spirituality that is thrill-intensive are incorrectly viewed as the antidote to our nation’s growing impatience?

-ian

I agree with you on the fact that people are becoming rather indolent as a whole. Maybe people are too tired to attempt to transcend on their own, as it were, to that level of Jesus-in-the-wilderness joy because it just took up so much time and effort. After all, between all that people have to do just to get by nowadays, it almost seems that having a spare minute is a luxury, much less 40 days of think-time. Maybe the idea of sitting next to that sunny refreshing fishing spot to reflect and feel that inner joy is great, but who has the time to actually do it? “Man, I’ve got three appointments, then I need to go shopping, then I need to pick up the kids, do laundry, make dinner, spend time with the family, yada yada.” The lure of mysticism is, as you’ve said, a very dangerously addictive vice, because it screams of feeling awed and inspired in one thunderclap of emotion.

Maybe with our imperfect minds and bodies, we live with the brevity of our averaged 60-70 years constantly in our faces, less so if we’re faced with that pesky “time and unforeseen occurrence” befalling us or those we love. It seems there are a lot of people who are so far removed from the idea or concept of God, for whatever reason, that they feel that the only way that his existence could possibly be proved would be with one big earth shatteringly obvious *TA DA* That big, fat, mind-bending, rays of light flying everywhere, clouds and puppies raining from the sky, mindbendingly exhilarating rush of “YES, I SEE IT NOW, I AM SUDDENLY TRANSFORMED” reaction. Pretty dangerous thought in a society that boasts “Go big or go home.”

And maybe that’s what people feel that’s what it would take in this world where we are so damned busy, Satan keeps us busy, clouding our ability to stop and smell the roses, as it were, to appreciate the proof of creatorship in every day life. It’s kind of hard to pick out the white horse in the landscape out the window when the car is moving at 75 mph…but I guarantee that you’d see the huge cow in the road in front of you pretty damned quickly. What takes more effort to see, and which will you stop for?

The Bible itself at Psalm 34:8 implores the Israelites to “taste and see that Jehovah is good”. Who amongst us doesn’t appreciate a fine meal, one that we can linger over, exploring the aroma, the texture and savor every bite? For God to invite us to linger over the knowledge of him, to gain the conscious appreciation for his existence through his works and creation, that implies time.

I think that’s what’s in those religious shows, the hands in the air, grasping for that *something*, that *make me a believer, God!* kind of mentality. You’ve gotta admit, that’s kind of like the Happy Meal version of spirituality. Why sit and make the effort to chew on a meal when you can just fish around for a minute and pull out the prize of enlightenment? People are in such a hurry they go about gulping down everything at once, and either end up throwing it all up or are left with a sour stomach and a bitter aftertaste, clutching some shiny piece of crap that once the plastic is off, is usually a letdown after the first minute. I’ve seen those shows, too, and I occasionally play a brief game of picking out the most bored looking person (there usually are a small handful) and pretend I can see a cartoon speech bubble that says
“I drove all the way from Okahoweenow Missouri and all I got was this lousy handshake.”

It seems there are a lot of definitions of mysticism floating around out there (no pun intended, really) but I read one that said it was the immediate consciousness of the reality of God. I guess when I think about people really trying to find that immediate transcendence, I wonder if they’re trying to find it on their time, or on God’s. All in all, I think mysticism is just another wedge, a tool in Satan’s device. I hope his cogwheels are jammed pretty soon

Ahaha.

thanks again,

ian