In the history of Christian spirituality there are people known as mystics. Mysticism is a way of entering into prayer, or coming into the presence of God that is only available to those who go beyond the surface and exterior, those who experience the inner grace and connectivity of all things.
The Apostle Paul spoke of the Cross of Christ in a way that mystics would: “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” 1 Corinthians 1:18. Mysticism is often foolishness to the educated and obvious to the simple. Mysticism is an unteachable gift hidden to those who do not desire it or search for it.
All mystics know is that they are inside of an immense and wonderful secret, which seems to be hidden from or denied by (but not denied to!) most of the rest of us. Mystics look out from different eyes that see the grace in all things and the deep connection between all things.
Christian mysticism is centered on Christ. And the purpose of life is to fall in love with Jesus and to identify with His poverty and humility and suffering. To love Jesus is a lifestyle, not a theology or approach. Only love is big enough to handle and hold the truth who is Jesus Christ and who is supremely loving, joyful, and inclusive of all.
Let us hope and pray, then, that the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, will have mercy on us sinners.
From the Bible:
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”
Romans 5:8.
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” 1 John 4:16.
“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” Matthew 22:37-39.
“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love”
1 Corinthians 13:13.
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