So, for me, writing Christmas cards is a mystical experience. What, you say? Mysticism is a special word you may have heard which is used to describe what it means to be a lover of God, to bask in God's love, to live in God's Presence, to seek His direction, to pray, to love others in His Name. To live this lifestyle is to be a mystic. Mysticism is not rarified - mysticism is for all Christian believers, of every denomination.
Alexander Maclaren was a famous Evangelical Baptist minister who studied and preached extensively on the Bible. He lived in nineteenth century England, but his thirty-three volumes of Bible exposition are still studied today. He also read classical mystical writers such as Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas a Kempis, and Brother Lawrence. He says that mysticism is "the direct communion which every soul may have with God....If a Christianity has no mysticism, it has no life."
"Maclaren tells us that authentic mysticism must be enfleshed in every day existence, lived out in the small, daily duties of life, finding full force in love of God and the love of neighbor. For instance, he says that Saint John 'never soars so high as to lose sight of the flat earth below.' " (Deacon Eddie Ensley in "Everyday Mysticism.")
Maclaren spoke of the importance of abiding in God - for the individual and for the Church. "'Abide in me, and I in you.' If...Christianity could only get hold of that truth."
In Scripture, God tells us over and over that He is in our midst. Jesus promised us that we would live lives of intimacy with the Father and him: "Those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them." (John 14: 21.) Jesus tells us that he is the Light of the World, and that, if we walk in his light, we will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life. And he promises this same spiritual unity and intimacy to his followers. At his Last Supper, he prayed to his Father "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me,and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me." (John 17: 20 - 21.)
When the apostles experienced the inrushing of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, they became a community of mystics. They drew crowds, preached, healed, performed miracles, just as Jesus did. And they said that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were not just for the apostles, but for all who believed. The Spirit's gifts for all who believed were not for them alone, but for them to use to give service to the community.
As St. Peter tells the crowds, "For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord calls to Him." (Acts 2: 39.)
When we pray, it's not to pull God to us "from on high" but to re-discover God living within us, for our souls are God's holy temples. When we pray, God encounters us personally and speaks to us, sometimes without words, in the "language of the heart," sometimes through inclining our thoughts and emotions in a certain direction, and sometimes through spiritual impulses to do something or say something.
Catholic Permanent Deacon Eddie Ensley says "When God's love floods our hearts, it stirs us. Our unconscious responds, our emotions respond, our body responds, our imaginations respond. The touch of God affects us totally. Our responses to God's touch we call mystical experiences. As St. Francis de Sales says, 'God attracts the human mind by his supreme beauty, his inexhaustible goodness."
" In 'Religious Experience Today,' David Hay reports that several large-scale studies show that 43% of all Americans and 48% of the British population have had mystical experiences.... Most people don't talk about them and largely keep them private....
"Whenever I go preaching parish retreats, people sense that I am open to the wondrous, and they tell me of rich encounters they had with God. Recently in my own parish a down-to-earth, well-balanced woman told me that during a time of stress, she saw the figure of Christ in her room as she rested on the bed with her eyes closed. She then opened her eyes and saw the clear and distinct vision of Christ in her room. She said she felt a great and inexpressible comfort.
"Another study suggests Biblical-like mystical experiences are common among ordinary Christians. Rev. Ben Jonson, a Lutheran minister with a doctorate in theology from Harvard, and sociologist Milo Brekke surveyed 2,000 Christians in mainline Churches in St. Cloud, Minnesota. They found that 30% had seen dramatic visions, heard heavenly voices, or had prophetic dreams. Johnson told a joint meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion, 'Two centuries after the intellectual world has said that these kinds of things do not happen, they show up among almost a third of the population in a conservative Midwestern city.'" (Ensley)
The test of mystical experience is whether or not it bears spiritual fruit in your life. If a mystical experience is not repressed and it is integrated into our lives, the fruit it bears is " a felt sense of healing, renewal, and inner peace and an outpouring of love and compassion for the suffering of the world." (Ensley)
Mystical experiences point to God, but they cannot replace God. They're also not badges of holiness. What we experience depends on our temperament. Those of us with more imagination can have more vivid experiences. Some Saints, like Bernard of Clairvaux, sensed God's Presence by the sudden warmth in his heart. Others, like Francis of Assisi, sensed God's Presence and peace in God's creatures and the beauties of nature. Others like the scholar Thomas Aquinas sensed God's Presence as he was inspired in his theological writings and sermons.
Others, like Quaker mystic Rufus Jones, said that he "caught" mystical experience as a child through his community during silent prayer sessions, when he was near people who felt God's Presence. He wrote
"There was something contagious about the silence. It caught us all into its living fold. The persons who composed the group were, for the most part, simple, rustic people who came from their farms and their kitchens, but one felt that they knew God and found Him there....There was a touch of awe and majesty, of surprise and wonder....there was a gleam of eternal reality breaking on the humble group...." (Rufus Jones, "Essential Writings," (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2001)
Pray this imaginative prayer, asking God to reaffirm for you that you are called to be a mystic, to abide in His Presence, by allowing you to more fully respond to His coming as a Child at Christmas..
Slow your breathing. Breathe Jesus in, and worry out. Imaginatively approach near to the manger prepared for the Christ Child by remembering and picturing past Christmases, perhaps at a Children's Service. Think of your congregation watching, softly singing, while a child ceremoniously approaches the manger and places the statue of the Child in his bed of straw. Remember the soft intake of breath of the entire congregation, the warm aura of wonder and awe descending on everyone. The Child's arms seem to extend around everyone there, old and young, joyful or grieving, care-free or weighted down with care. People are bowing their heads in awe.
Your own heart swells with the wonder of unexpected joy. He's HERE. The Christ Child has come! He's come for everyone in this room. He's come for the world. He's come for YOU. For awhile, you move away from your problems, your anxiety, your worry, and your soul hangs suspended in this peace and joy. Nothing else matters except that God-with-us has come as he promised. He is faithful. He will always come, Christmas after Christmas, day after day, minute after minute. You bow your head in adoration of the King who has entered the manger and your heart. How could you ever be afraid of such a small, humble King?
Light suddenly softly streams from the manger, and the room is suffused with this holy, enlivening light. The light bathes your body and soul with peace. A ray of it pierces your heart with such sweetness that you gasp. You are overwhelmed with love. For awhile you rest and drink in the light and love of the Holy Infant.