This First Thing

Chaos into Mysticism

Mar 9, 2009

Saying For Today: A mystic is a person who lives with the first priority of his or her life being direct connection with God. ... We are invited to live in a temple-consciousness, a God-awareness, and turn from the many second things that would keep us from this First Thing.

LENTEN DEVOTIONALS 2009

A single day in your courts
is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.

*Psalm 84.10 (NLT)

One day in your arms, with you eye-to-eye,
is better than a million anywhere else in the world.
I'd rather be a surrendered spouse in your embrace
than live a life among many friends away from your presence.

*Psalm 84.10, Paraphrase (Brian K Wilcox)

Desire for God is deeply penetrating every fiber of our being. We desire most deeply, not a God who is Justice, or Judgment, or Righteousness, or Greatness, or Mystery, or Holiness - but Love. This does not mean that we do not need or want a God with these other Qualities. However, we want to know such a God is a Being of Infinite, Unconditional Love.

I read of a study that arrived at the conclusion regarding our most ardent longing. The longing is connection. We are born to find ourselves in fellowship with other persons, an experience of our oneness with all things - and God.

Eros is the word that speaks of this loving. We, then, speak of erotic. Being erotic is simply reaching out to connect in union - and the word is not essentially about sex. Yet, this erotic drive is why there is so much attention to sex in our society. We lack connection - deep, spiritual union. Many persons, therefore, try to find a high - a soul connection - in sex. For example, the porn adict is a man or woman dying inside to receive true love. Yet, persons get only a chemical release. And they use someone else as an object. Then, they have to have sex soon or indulge in pornography to get the high again. They are getting the sex, but they are missing what they are seeking: Eros, or spirtual oneness.

Of course, the same perverted desire - misdirected Eros - is expressed in many "erotic" ways. Some persons seek intimacy in a bottle, a needle, a job, ... How many guys worship sports? How many persons "make love to" television hours a day? Some persons even seek over-the-counter drugs to fill up the hole inside - to be his or her lover.

Then, some persons run from Eros. No, they do not "make love" in any way. They are not even trying to be a lover. They gave up on that. These persons have been so hurt by not getting Eros, they give up and hide. They may travel the world, make millions, serve many, or just cozy up in a nice little living space somewhere and look like an ordinary citizen - feeling safe, with closed heart. Oh, yes, they may have a lot of advice to give others about their loveaches and heartaches. But they refuse to open their heart - to allow themselves to be seen and known deeply by anyone else. They may even move on the fringes of religion, or talk about being spiritual, but not even God gets close and looks in. Sure, God may be the call-person that is there to help in time of need - or always-, but God gazing in his or her heart - no way.

I recall the first time I kissed a girl. I was at a church party. We were playing a game - Spin the Bottle. A friend of mine manipulated the bottle to point to the girl I had interest in, and she in me. We walked in the dark down a dirt road from the church. We talked some, then we kissed. Some persons talk about the wonder of the first kiss. That kiss lived up to the reputation. It was a remarkable, new moment - an awakening to the fact I was soon to become a man. I still appreciate that moment as a sacred one. It said so much more about my soul longing than two mouths embracing.

One reason it was sacred was what the kiss really said about the young lady and me, and all of us. Through the expression of Eros, we were saying, "My deepest need and desire is to connect, to be one with someone other than myself."

We are each innately born to be a mystic. Yes, you. That is right - You are destined to be a mystic. What is a mystic? A mystic is a person who lives with the first priority of his or her life being direct connection with God. A mystic prioritizes a daily way of growing this intimacy with God. He or she longs and aims to be a channel of Grace into the world.

Lent invites us to prepare for a more intimate relationship with the Christ within us. Yet, do we really want this? For to have this intimacy means we are seen by God.

We may use many escapes from being seen by God. Indeed, we each have a favorite escape. Your escape may be one of the following, or another: food, avid service to others, substance addiction, sports, work, sex, reading, traveling, ...

Now, let me give you one of the more surprising escapes from God's gaze: religion. That is right, religion. This may be the person who is Muslim and does all his prayers, yet he never truly allows God into his heart and, thereby, never sees God reaching out to him in those of other faiths or no faith. This could be the Buddhist who goes on retreats and sits in meditation daily. This calms her, still she never finds her deepest center is a Person, not a state of mind. This could be a Jew who attends synagogue, maintains religious ceremony in the home, and does daily prayers, but never goes beyond the status-quo of devotional practice. This could be the Christian known as a faithful church member. She is active in many activities at the church complex or in outreach, but hides from God thereby - maybe not realizing the substitute she is making. She does a lot for other persons, maybe, but she never sees God in those she serves and looking back at her through their eyes.

So, back to our opening question. How clearly do you want the Divine to see you? How transparent do you want to be to Love?

I myself can testify that I was mostly hidden from God for many years. I had been raised Christian fundamentalist. Oh, yes, I was a zealous Christian. I became a pastor. A preacher of revival meetings. Had twelves years of postsecondary religious education. I became a professor, training other men and women to serve God. But I was largely lost to God. I knew about God, I was religious, and I knew God loved me - but I was not letting God look deeply into my soul. I did not know how to let God do so. No one had ever taught me how to practice spiritually to open to the Divine Presence. I had a lot of religion, and almost no spirituality in it.

Being transparent to Divine Presence is the most precious, most challenging path you can choose in this life. Such transparency is necessary to move to experience of Easter, in spiritual joy and celebration - an Easter still happening inside you.

Caroline Myss pens, "What fundamentalism is to a culture in chaos, mysticism is to a soul in chaos." Fundamentalism is a lower order political-religious movement to maintain order and meaning in society. That is a reason fundamentalism is strong in our society. Fundamentalism is an attempt, though ultimately vain one, to control the chaos that is necessarily a part of life. The more chaos in a society, the more likely fundamentalism will be strong.

Mysticism fills the same role for a more mature soul. Generally, a falling into mystical living is preceded by chaos in the soul. The chaos is preparatory to say, "Yes, there's more than the conventional faith I've been part of, and I'm ready to have that More as part of my life." In essence, "I've looked about God long enough, now, I want God to look into me. I want us to look into each other."

Now, returning to the Scripture for today. The temple in the Old Testament is a sign of the Inwardness where dwells the Divine. In Christ we come to know That as being within us each. We are invited to live in a temple-consciousness, a God-awareness, and turn from the many second things that would keep us from this First Thing.

*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian K. Wilcox, of SW Florida. Brian is pastor at Christ Community United Methodist Church, Harbour Heights, FL, and Senior Chaplain for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Punta Gorda, FL.

*Brian welcomes responses to his writings or submission of prayer requests at barukhattah@embarqmail.com .

*Contact the above email to book Brian for Spiritual Direction, retreats, or workshops. You can order his book An Ache for Union at major book dealers.