Observations from 15 Years of Studying Mysticism and Conventionalism

2012 was specifically a year of travel and visiting various groups of mystics.  Nevertheless, 2012 was only one out of fifteen years of my spiritual and religious studies, both informally and formally.

I have visited, studied, and participated in both the mystical and the conventional branches of those who say they love Jesus.  I have sat in Orthodox pews, Catholic prayer halls, mystical gold clouds, and seen people's teeth turn gold right in front of me.  I have made many observations, but one major conclusion.  

This blog discusses both the observations and the major conclusion from 15 years of study.

OBSERVATIONS:

- The Orthodox Church in Canada is amazingly mystical (mysticism is defined as the experience of God). I witnessed miracles in the Edmonton Orthodox church.

- The Pentecostal church can be shockingly conventional (those who profess to believe in a powerful God but are unwilling to pray for healing, miracles or anything supernatural)

- Our nationality plays a major role in our translation of love, the experience of God, and the conventions of our faith.  I learned this the hard way when travelling to places who are rather "muted" in their expressions of love to one another.  That doesn't mean that they do not love; but it does mean that love is a language that often requires a translator!

- There is a burgeoning group of Christians in every denomination who think as Kingdom people, not as nationalists nor denominationalists.  These are the ones to watch, for some fun Christianity.

- Each person's emotional and relational health has a strong correlation to their spiritual development.  Those with love, inheritance, and security are more able to connect and relate with God, than those who are broken, confused, or wounded.

- Exponential--those who have and given blessings, get exponentially more, whereas, those with hurts and trauma, get exponentially hurt and depressed.  

I could go on and on…but let's get back on point.  Here are two reasons that I write this blog:

1) Clearly I enjoy the mystical, the mysterious and the quantum side of God and His Kingdom and I will continue to write about it, perpetuate it, grow in it etc.  Those of you who also enjoy this, read my blog, have invited me to speak etc.

2) The realization, that if the mystical experience of God is devoid of practical and measurable love (the kind of love people can rely on and the kind of love that perseveres, covers, and blesses), then without tangible love, all of the mysticism is still just "noise" (noise is explained in 1 Cor 13).

The second point was extremely shocking to me to come to terms with.  For, if I can prophesy, speak in tongues, and raise the dead, but I do not have the matching (and greater) love/charity that 'SHOULD' go with it…then my mystical experience is no more authentic than the guy trading pigeons in the temple.

SHOCK SHOCK SHOCK.

You mean, I can move mountains and have missed the target?  I can walk through time, space, and the heavenlies, but miss the point altogether? Ya, I know that the Word talks about this, but for some reason, the impact hit me in a new way, all over again.  So I have been humbled, shocked, and awed that my attempt at reaching the heavens, could still be 'iniquity' (defined by he or she who does what is right in their own eyes).

SOBERING REALITY CHECK.

Now I am not going to throw out the mystical baby with the conventional bath water simply because I don't understand how it all works together.  Clearly, I need the left hand and the right hand to work together.

What I do have is a "Love Litmus Test".  For me, I can tell if I am loving or unloving when I measure my reaction to jerks.  JERKS are the biggest indicator of my ability or inability to love accurately.  I have had a few jerks in my life (extortion, betrayal, slander, abuse etc).  Those people really know how to grind my gears!  Arg, I can't stand the harm that they have caused me.  JERKS!

And yet, THOSE very "jerks" are the ones I am called to love, just as much as I am called to love the people I actually like.  GAH!  Why are the jerks in my life the very ones who are teaching me about my own love-limits?

Oooooo, that can be frustrating and they can be frustrating too.  But you know me.  I am always looking for the optimistic turn around to take a negative against me into a positive for me.  And I must do the same with those jerks!

I will win by learning to love the jerks who stole, robbed, defiled, humiliated, and scorned me.  They are now my love-litmus test.  If I can love them, then I can love.

BACK TO MYSTICISM & CONVENTIONALITY

Many of my friends are mystics and Wild Ones, while many more of my friends are conventional and as tame as a sheep on a Welsh hill.  The point is this: whether they are wild or tame; nice or jerk-ish; mine or yours; European or Canadian...all are one in Jesus.  At least, that is what my Bible tells me.  In reality, many of us are still separating one from another.

It is time for change.  It is time to participate in the culture of love that "covers" people, not separates them.  It is time for letting the wheat and the weed grow together, and let it sort out in the end.  

Are we there yet?  I am not sure that I am.  Sadly, I am still working on loving the jerks in my life.   I need both the mystical and the conventional branches of my faith community to teach me how to love those who are seemingly impossible to love.  Sometimes, that even includes myself.

MAJOR CONCLUSION:  

Convention and Mysticism are both necessary in order for us to love accurately from Heaven to Earth

Convention gives us family, homes, function, form, roles, relationships etc (this leads to a positive mental health).  Mysticism gives us adventure, possibilities, dreams, invention, and invigoration (which we need for positive mental health).  Both convention and mysticism are necessary for each other to function and grow.  Generally speaking, convention offers maturity in love (stability, safety etc), while mysticism offers healing, quantum, kingdom and miracles.

BOTH CONVENTION AND THE MYSTICAL ARE NEEDED, BECAUSE WE ARE NOT YET ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE (even if Paul managed it, I have not yet met anyone else who can).

Just to throw an additional card into the hand, consider this: the Christian God is Triune (3 bodies, 1 essence).  If our God is so complex, then why do we expect ourselves to be anything less?  We may have many denominational bodies...but surely we can be of ONE ESSENCE!!!

So my Dear Dear Mystic friends--go hug a Conventionalist today and learn about the rudiments of love.

My Dear Dear Conventional friends--go hear a story from a Mystic today and learn about how wide and deep and expansive God's Kingdom is with its miracles, phenomena, and possibilities.

Let's show each other love and blessing; rather than focus on the things that we simply do not understand in one another.

ADDITIONAL CONCLUSION:

We are part of a blended Christian family who has been divorced and remarried thousands of denominational times;
it is time that we embrace it by embracing each other!

The Unknown Path

Copied from Elizabeth's Inbox (all Rights Reserved, 2012).

More about the Unknown Path October 20, 2012 The Unknown Path's Beginning A few days ago, I headed out on a walking adventure.  I originally thought that my host was going to take me to a flat land for some sheep watching and plant finding.  But he had another idea.  Instead, we headed out to a place near Pontypool, to a series of hills that were once homes to shepherds, then mines, and then nothing.  The area has been basically abandoned except for some roaming sheep and rustic ferns.   A few miles away, there is an abandoned golf course that is now home to a group of Travelers and their caravans, that is next to an old rugby field that a horse lives on. The area where we walked has no name.  The valley has no name.  The path has no name.  The general and much broader area is nicknamed "British" simply because the mine from that area was owned by the British.  All that remains of the area are a few abandoned buildings from the old mine at the base of the hills, some trash left by local people, and a few sheep and rustic ferns. As we set out on our walk, past the abandoned buildings and into the Unknown, I noticed the strangely clear skies, the hues of rust and auburn on the autumn hills, and the clear sound of stillness that is so often known in Wales.  My host commented that he had carved one of the paths to this Unknown place himself, through years of walking this un-named area.  His feet moved along the path that had been made through his own adventuring. In this place of beauty and nature, I could breathe again.  I had needed that opportunity to simply breathe and to simply enjoy a simple outing in the hills.  "Aaah.  So good.  So peaceful.  Aaaah." I have learned that Wales is a land that sings and calls to people from around the world.   Many tourists comment that they felt the "pull" of Wales on their hearts and that it was specific to the land; as if the land of Wales has its own voice and it is calling you by name.  Since my Mom's family is from Wales, I had assumed that the call was specific to our bloodline and heritage.  Yet, traveler after traveler speaks an account of having felt the pull, the calling, and the draw of the land of Wales. Rural legend has a Welsh word for the pull of the land, the memories of the land, and the memories of people since passed.  They call it "Hiraeth"; a word that is largely non-translatable and it is often referred to in terms of stories, history, or song.  You will know it if you have felt it; it is simply the call of the land. Many people of Welsh Origin, who have felt "Hiraeth", talk about the mysteries and history of this ancient nation.  This place, which is currently a Principality of Great Britain, has drawn people of every belief system.  It is a land of saints, pagans, and spiritualists; of writers, bards, and poets.  Everything in the natural order sings, especially the land and the people.  It is nearly impossible to go on a walk, without having a deep encounter with God or the spiritual world (and yes, those can be different things).  I can understand why so much of this place was an inspiration to J.R.R. Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" book series. As my host and I walked further down the Unknown Path, we happened upon old ruins left from Shepherd's homes, various plants, and then, after cresting a hill, we happened upon a new "Unknown Path".  Immediately, we were immersed in an entirely different eco system that was boggy and full of beech trees, ferns, and moss covered stones (see the bottom right picture for a clearer idea).  It was as if we had walked into the world of the Ents (Lord of the Rings).  If I could spend all day there, I would!  I could write so many poems, so many stories, and so many songs in that place.  Again, it was as if the land was calling, and bidding us to come, sit, and create.  The air was moist, the rocks were softened by green moss, and the air was sparkling.  This land is so marvelous.  I can't think of any place that I have ever been that sparks the imagination quite like this. I simply had to take a moment and breathe in the air, touch the furry moss, and smile.  I felt like I had discovered a hidden paradise, where few have ever walked.  The land sings.  It's Hiraeth had called to me, and I had found the land's treasures in its golden sun, plush fawna, and hidden paths. I continued to marvel at the beauty of the land, and I felt as if the rocks were telling a story.  I tried to think of all of the writer's who had visited Wales' landscapes as inspiration for their great novels and children's books.  But even more, I wondered if "Hiraeth" was one of the many sounds that God made to let people know that we are part of his world, and in his marvelous creation.  He still lives.  Just as an author creates a story full of vivid characters, descriptions, and colours, so we are the vivid images of His creative mind. I enjoy marveling at the wonder of what has been made.  Some people discount God because of the wounds of their life or because of the depravity of evil.  Their minds wrestle with the dark shadows of wounds, betrayals and hurts until they cannot remember the light.  Yet, in a boggy beech forest, I can remember and see God's light from amongst a hidden place on an "Unknown Path".  I can forget my own shadows and hurts and thus remember that God is good, and he calls to us through any means necessary.  It is as if the stones were calling out.  The Creator sings through his creation.  Through traveling the "Uknown Path", I was able to hear the sound of God and resonate with it. When two tuning forks are placed near each other, they will combine to create a single sound.  To draw near to God, his creation, and his creativity, is to come into the frequency of his sound and thus, be united with him.  We harmonize, blend, and then unify in God's resonance.  How wonderous; how quantum; how interesting to consider.  Have you ever asked, if God created through sound (God Spoke...and it was), what was that sound? In a complex world that has issues of its own, we all face this choice: to see God as good and be unified with him, or to see ourselves as the only solution and thus be separate from God.  It is true, that to be in union with God is costly, non-trendy, and may not even make you popular inside the church (depending on where you go) or outside of the church (depending on who is in your life).  The path to union with God is narrow, and few find it and pursue it. Yet, the rewards of diligently seeking God, his goodness, and our role in the "Unknown Path" are extravagant and simple: to experience heavenly bliss, here on earth amidst the contrast of this world's shadows, failings, and hardships.  We have all heard that prayer, "Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in heaven".  It is possible that his will is for us to experience His true goodness, restoration, hope, possibilities, and more, while alive on this Earth.  I don't believe that we have to wait for heaven as a distant and far off reality.  Heaven is to be brought to earth. And in that boggy beech forest, I could remember, see, hear, and touch a piece of heaven.  For that moment, on that Unknown Path, I was in tune with God and it was good. My journey through life continues past its many and significant traumas and difficulties, towards those moments of life and light.  It is my choice to persevere on the "Unknown Path".  I am simply a traveler on this strange journey of hills and valleys and hidden places.  Yet my heart will always desire all that is good, right, and peaceful. May we each be blessed today with a wondrous experience of God's goodness on today's Unknown Path. Sincerely, Elizabeth Lewis Author & Advocate P.S. Questions about God? Click on that link.

Christians & Mysticism

I have recently come across a vast amount of knowledge and interaction with "Christian Mystics".  I've been told, by a reliable family member, that Christian Mysticism is an oxymoron.  It is commonly believed, in various mainstream religious circles, that anything mystical is evil and to be feared.  Yet, upon learning more, I have discovered that mysticism is simply an experience (usually quite personal) with God.  

PLEASE NOTE: by "bloggersizing" about Christian Mysticism, I am not saying what is or isn't theologically right or wrong.  I am simply learning through writing.  I do not want fear to govern which subjects I will learn about.  Fear is the result of an absence of truth.  I desire truth.   What we do not yet understand is simply an invitation to gain understanding, knowledge, insight, and wisdom (preferably with revelation).  Let us not fear the unknown when we have a higher belief in an all-knowing God.

Chances are, if you have heard of some of the following terms or stories, then you have already come across "Christian Mysticism": shekhinah glory, Eucharist, Jacob's Ladder Vision, Melchizedek, Theresa of Avila, Holy Spirit visitation, stigmata, visions of heaven, etc.  For more info on Christian Mysticism basics, take a look at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_mysticism


I read an interesting quote from Albert Einstein recently.  “The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. "  Albert Einstein, The World as I See It, Secaucus, New Jersy: The Citadel Press, 1999, p. 5.


So why even discuss Christians & Mysticism?  What could be the value?  The answer for me is quite simple: Peter walked on water by faith.  I have met saints today who are experiencing profound things that Jesus indicated his followers would experience: healings, miracles, raising of the dead, signs, wonders, unparalleled forgiveness etc.  


Furthermore, I heard a speaker who talked about his experiences of trans-relocating to minister to Christians in prisons.  He is one of many who are sharing such stories. 


So what are your thoughts?  Experiences?  References?