Pope Francis defines a mystic as one who “experiences the intimate connection between God and all beings.”
The Catholic tradition boasts great saints who were mystics, including St. Joan of Arc, St. Teresa of Avila and St. Hildegard of Bingen.
How do we understand mystical experiences today in an age of skepticism?
If God is in all things, and intimately involved in our lives, then perhaps we are all called to be mystics on some level.
From the Middle Ages to modern times, mystics call us to intimacy with God
The Middle Ages produced a number of high-profile mystics, but even in modern, skeptical times, we can experience a deep relationship with the invisible God.
Embracing (if not understanding) what mystics share with us
St. Teresa of Avila’s mystical experiences defy worldly logic, but open the door for all to encounter God more deeply.
Mysticism is found in the everyday experience of God
Modern Christians tend to think of mystics as belonging to earlier times, but the mystical encounter occurs in the here and now of our daily lives.
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Mysticism is communing with God or communing with god. They are not one and the same. What differentiates the two is the object that we are communing with and the method of communing. The Biblical God is the Creator who transcends His creation, and He wants dependence and unconditional trust from His creation. He then inhabits us by His Spirit. This is how we commune with Him, and this is how we arrive at the peace that passes all understanding. I will call this Biblical mysticism.
There is another form of mysticism which does not have a transcendent Creator God as its object, but considers everything to be god in one way or another. It is also called pantheism, nature spirituality, or earth-based spirituality. Generally, the means of communing with this view of god would be Eastern type meditations, mantras, yoga, guided imagery, and breathing exercises. There are others means, but the object is not the Creator God of the Bible. He requires trust. Often, Biblical imagery is used in the spiritual exercises for this second type of mysticism, but this does not change its object which is god. Because of the Biblical imagery, many believe that they are getting closer to the Biblical God, but they are not.
There is a lot of deception in today’s Christianity that comes from its highest levels. Not everything that is presented as saintly really is saintly. I not only check to see who or what the object is, but I also examine the spiritual exercise that is used for communing.