Tag: Heart

The Mystic Path: Union with God

spirituality1592 Comments

We have noted the experience of awakening that often is the first step along the path. This can be followed by purification or purgation in which we acknowledge our sins and attempt, with God’s grace, to overcome the dark traits of our personalities. Next can come illumination in which we experience the presence of God such that we begin to understand more and more about who God is and what God desires for us. The final stop along the mystic path is called union.

On sweet occasions

Goal of Christian devotion

Union with our God

As might be expected, this stage can only be described by metaphor and symbol. Some mystics compare it to a transformation, e.g. wood becoming flame in fire, or a drop of water becoming wine when immersed in a great sea of wine. And, St. Paul wrote about being conformed to the image of Christ–becoming like Christ. Deification is a word the Eastern Orthodox Church has used for centuries. We do not become equal with God, but they affirm that we acquire the divine nature. In 2nd Peter, we discover that we can “become participants of the divine nature” (1:4).

Another favorite image among the mystics is spiritual marriage. It is a union characterized by love. The Song of Solomon is a favorite book for these mystics. Human love becomes a metaphor for the loving union of a person and God.

However it was characterized, the mystics all have had a burning desire to experience the fullness of God. They desire this more than life itself. So, they seek after God, and by God’s grace, they can have moments of true union. Only in the life to come, can the union become more permanent.

Union with God in this life and the life to come is characterized by 5 qualities.

1) It is marked by a union of minds. The mystic begins to share God’s values, ideas, and wisdom. Because of this union, they often understand intuitively what God would have them do different situations.

2) It is marked by a union of hearts. The mystic begins to love what God loves. The true mystic, united with God, has compassion for all that God has made.

3) The third mark should go without saying, but it is often not clearly understood. If we share God’s values and love what God loves, we will desire union with one another. To be united with God, one must in one way or another, be immersed in the life of the people of God.

4) The fourth mark is joy. One of my favorite mystics, Richard Rolle compared the person united with God to a music pipe always playing joyful songs of love to Christ.

5) The fifth mark is peace. One of my favorite hymns expresses this well. It is “Like a River Glorious” by Frances Havergal:

Life a river glorious, is God’s perfect peace,

Over all victorious in its bright increase;

Perfect, yet it floweth fuller every day;

Perfect, yet it groweth deeper all the way.

Hidden in the hollow of God’s blessed hand,

Never foe can follow, never traitor stand.

Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,

Nor a blast of hurry touch the spirit there.

Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest;

Finding as God promised, perfect peace and rest.

This is not the last thing I want to say about this beautiful mystic path, but perhaps that is enough for today. As always, if you find what I have written helpful, feel free to share it with others.

The Sound of God

spirituality1592 Comments

Our little townhouse is located near an interstate highway. Twenty-four hours a day the hum of that motorway can be heard in our neighborhood. Of course pretty quickly after we moved in, that hum was rarely noticed at all. We were unconsciously filtering it out. The only time I usually notice the sounds of the highway is when a siren goes racing by.

My laptop sits on an elevated stand that has a fan in it. When I plug the stand into my computer, the fan begins to whir. It keeps my computer cool. The only time I am aware of the sound is when I unplug it and it stops. Only in the silence do I realize that there had even been a sound.

All of this got me to thinking about the sound of God. Traditional Christian thought affirms the omnipresence of God. God is as ubiquitous as the air around us and within us. Other religions also think of Ultimate Reality, Being, or the Divine as universally present.

If God is present in this way, what is the divine sound? How can we hear it? Can we only notice it when it is strangely absent? Or is it like a vibration in our hearts that can only be sensed when we are silent?

Sunday I told the congregation that if a person has all the answers, this probably means he or she doesn’t know all the questions! Well, I have a lot of questions, but that’s okay because those very questions may be the pathway to God I most need.

Peace, LaMon

[Please remember if you like my posts to hit the ‘share’ button. That will help to increase my readers. And if you didn’t care much for this one, maybe the next one will be better 🙂 Thanks.]