[http://www.listening2god.com/blog/blog.html]
First, let me apologise for the disjointed order of these posts,
although I shouldn't need to apologise - blogging gives an author the
freedom to post items as they come to mind. The reader must wait in
anticipation to see if and when some order emerges from the heap. Why
should I deprive anyone of that adventure?Today I plan to begin
discovering what mysticism is, and I will begin with a definition from
Wikipedia:Mysticism from the Greek μυστικός (mystikos) "an initiate"
(of the Eleusinian Mysteries, μυστήρια (mysteria) meaning "initiation")
is the pursuit of achieving communion or identity with, or conscious
wareness of, ultimate reality, the divine, spiritual truth, or God
through direct experience, intuition, or insight; and the belief that
such experience is an important source of knowledge, understanding, and
wisdom. Traditions may include a belief in the literal existence of
realities beyond empirical perception, or a belief that a true human
perception of the world trancends logical reasoning or intellectual
comprehension. A person delving in these areas may be called a
Mystic.The term "mysticism" is often used to refer to beliefs which go
beyondthe purely exoteric practices of mainstream religions, while
still beingrelated to or based in a mainstream religious doctrine. For
example, Kabbalah is a significant mystical movement within Judaism,
Sufism is a significant mystical movement within Islam, however
Gnosticism can refer to either a mystical movement within Christianity
or as variousmystical sects which arose out of Christianity. Some have
argued that Christianity itself was a mystical sect that arose out of
Judaism. While Eastern religion tend to find the concept of mysticism
redundant, non-traditional knowledge and ritual are considered as
Esotericism, for example Buddhism's Vajrayana. Vedanta is considered
the mystical branch of Hinduism.My only interest is in Christian
mysticism, so I will give the Wikipedia definition of this:
Mysticism is the philosophy and practice of a direct experience of God.
Christian mysticism is traditionally pursued through the practice of
the disciplines of prayer (including meditation and contemplation),
fasting (including other forms of abstinence and self-denial), and
alms-giving, service to others, as discussed by Jesus in the Sermon on
the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Other forms of mysticism in general include
participation in ecstatic worship and the use of entheogens, the latter
not being associated with the mainstream of Christian spirituality.
Christians believe that God dwells in Christians through the Holy
Spirit, and therefore all Christians can experience God directly.

Without needing to accept that these definitions by the unknown
Wikipedia authors are the be-all-and-end-all of truth, one point
immediately becomes clear. If mysticism includes "the pursuit of
achieving communion ... with, or conscious awareness of, ... God
through direct experience, intuition, or insight; and the belief that
such experience is an important source of knowledge, understanding, and
Wisdom", and if "Christians believe that God dwells in Christians
through the Holy Spirit, and therefore all Christians can experience
God directly", then all Christians can and, I contend, should be
mystics!Of course, there is at least one growing mystical movement in
the Protestant church, alongside the mystical elements of more Catholic
and Orthodox traditions, which never went away. This is typically
expressed in an exploration of the contemplative traditions, and
perhaps accounts for the fact that so many Protestant, and even
Evangelical pastors now have Roman Catholic spiritual directors. The
movement is typified by such organisations as Renovaré, a Christian
renewal para-Church organization founded by Quaker Richard Foster in
1988. There are many other signs and centres of this stream.Some of the
resources of this stream have been useful to us in our teaching people
how to hear God's voice, as can be seen on our listening2god
website.Some Renovare resources:

- Richard Foster (ed), The Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible
(Protestant Edition). SanFran, 2005.
- James Smith & Richard Foster, A Spiritual Formation Workbook -
Revised edition: Small Group Resources for Nurturing Christian Growth.
HarperSanFrancisco, 1999.
- Richard Foster, Devotional Classics: Revised Edition: Selected
Readings for Individuals and Groups. HarperSanFrancisco, 1989.
- Richard Foster, Spiritual Classics : Selected Readings for
Individuals and Groups on the Twelve Spiritual Disciplines.
HarperSanFrancisco, 2000.
- Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual
Growth. HarperSanFrancisco, 1998.
- Richard Foster, Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great
Traditions of Christian Faith. HarperSanFrancisco, 2001.

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Posted By Mal to a reasonable mystic at 10/11/2006 08:22:00 PM