Reflection #24: Mysticism Runs Deep

I’ve come to realize that I have a streak of mysticism that runs deep in me. This is not to say I am a mystic through and through, but as I get older I find myself more and more attracted to the spiritual practices of the mystics, as well as their ideas and insights. This movement toward mysticism is one I see happening in many who are part of the church family, perhaps this is an indication that Christianity is entering The Age of the Spirit (as theologian Phyllis Tickle asserts). Embracing mysticism more fully is perhaps what Christianity needs to do at this stage in history. Karl Rahner, a 20^th century German Jesuit theologian, wrote “The Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist at all.”  (Theological Investigations Volume XX).   For Rahner mysticism does not mean some esoteric phenomenon but “a genuine experience of God emerging from the very heart of our existence.” That statement, however, leaves much unexplained, rather it points to a greater mystery, a profound wonder.  It is the combination of wonder and mystery that I associate with mysticism.

Looking at our cultural and religious shifts over the past few centuries Richard Rohr, Franciscan author and mystic, writes in his book The Naked Now “We moved from wondering to answering, which has not served us well at all. This reached its nadir in what we today call fundamentalism, common in almost all religions. Let’s start wondering again.” The more I study the Bible the more I wonder. The more I read of scientific discoveries and breakthroughs the more I wonder. The more I listen to the stories and experiences of people the more I wonder, the more I am drawn into the numinous. This wondering does not always need to seek answers, sometimes it is content to remain in the realm of awe and mystery.

In his book The Other Side of Silence Morton T. Kelsey writes “For many Christians mysticism is either illusion or delusion…a flight from reality and, even worse, a flight from Christian morality and responsibility… Yet those who call themselves mystics speak of finding the goal and fulfillment of the religious quest in their experiences. They suggest that the meaning of religion lies in the reality which they encounter through this inner realm and, in particular, that the inspiration and power of Christianity comes from this reality. It is just such experiences, they find, which open us to the source of love (God) and bring us its creative and heroic energies.”

Perhaps my real awakening to mysticism came from an experience I had while participating in a simple worship service at the Qu’Appelle House of Prayer.  I had gone out to this retreat centre seeking a spiritual director, thinking this would help me with some struggles I was having in my vocation at the time. I was not even aware there was a service scheduled until I was invited to stay for worship if I wanted to. I was forewarned that the worship would have times of extended silence.  In my mind I thought this might be boring, but in my spirit I felt a compulsion to stay.  That contemplative worship service surprised me by its quiet power – I experienced the love of God pouring into me in a way that was healing and renewing, affirming and comforting.  It was a transitional  and transformational moment for me.

Contemplation began to be part of my religious experience, and I began offering contemplative worship services at my church (first with something I called Ambient Vespers, then with an alternative worship experience called Mysterium which has been running for over 5 years now).  It was through these contemplative services that I discovered there were many others who also found this form of worship, this approach to prayer, deeply meaningful.  This was prayer as listening to God rather than prayer as a list of requests made to God.  Contemplation was enriching my spiritual life. Richard Rohr writes “Contemplation refuses to be reductionistic. Contemplation is an exercise in keeping your heart and mind spaces open long enough for the mind to see other hidden material. It is content with the naked now and waits for futures given by God and grace.”  (from The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See)

Perhaps many would still hold that mystics are people who are so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.  This has not been my experience, and nor is it true of most of the mystics I have read about.  Carl McColman, in his helpful volume TheBig Book of Christian Mysticism: The Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality writes “Mysticism is about immersion in the great stream of Christian thinking, from the wisdom of the Bible to the teachings of the great mystics themselves. But it’s also about putting down all the books and retreating into silence and solitude to encounter the God who calls you to love. And then it’s about returning from solitude to engage in real-world life and relating to other people in love and joy, in conflict and challenge, in suffering and trials.”

It is through being open to the presence of God fully that we are given clear vision as to God’s will for us and the power to carry that out – and as Jesus made clear in his teachings God’s will for us is primarily about loving others.  It is in listening for the quiet, gentle voice of God that we are nudged to actions of compassion and justice, reconciliation and restoration. Mysticism leads to a greater involvement in the world, or perhaps it better said, involvement in the world with greater vision of God’s intention.

Good News for Lutheran Pastors

This blog entry is adapted from a sermon I preached at the closing worship of the Pastor's Study Conference of the Saskatchewan Synod last fall.  While it is primarily directed at Lutheran Pastors others may find some value in it as well.

A Reading from Romans 10:13-17

All who call on the Lord’s name will be saved.

So how can they call on someone they don’t have faith in? And how can they have faith in someone they haven’t heard of? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the good news.

But everyone hasn’t obeyed the good news. As Isaiah says, Lord, who has had faith in our message? So, faith comes from listening, but it’s listening by means of Christ’s message.

This cartoon made me chuckle.  It actually makes me think of the challenge we have in our current context - proclaiming the Gospel to our neighbours without people rolling their eyes, or slamming the door (metaphorically speaking).  We all know how ineffective it would be in today's world to knock on someone's door and introduce the conversation with “I’d like to talk to you about Jesus.”  How can we talk about Jesus in a way that is heard in our contemporary culture?  We can't stop talking about Jesus altogether, as the Apostle Paul asks “How can they have faith in someone they haven’t heard of?”

The problem we face as we think of preaching the gospel to our neighbours might be summed up with another question: Which Jesus have they heard of?

We have come to know a Jesus of grace and love, of inclusivity and a heart for the outcast.  Is this the Jesus that our neighbours have heard of?  If not, how do we preach the good news to those who think they have heard?

Paul asks “How can they have faith in someone they haven’t heard of?”  I would like to suggest that many people in our communities still haven’t heard of this Jesus that we have faith in.  Thus it falls to us, this important task, this important calling – to preach the good news of Jesus.

I believe that Lutherans stand uniquely positioned in our culture to meet the evangelism needs of today’s younger generations.  I believe that we Lutheran preachers have an unique opportunity presenting itself to us, if we can only see it and respond accordingly.  If only we can find a way to be heard in the cacophony of an increasingly complex world.

 

Before I look at how to be heard let me pause for a moment and explain why I think Lutheranism, the variation represented by the ELCIC and ELCA, is well positioned to tap into the spiritual undercurrents of our current society.

1) First of all we are HISTORICAL – we are not some fly by night group, sprung up in the heat of religious entrepreneurialism.  We have had centuries to refine and deepen our religious resources and rituals.  And we stem from an even longer history of the church catholic. 
 

People today are naturally skeptical, including skeptical of religious claims – but our approach to the spiritual questions of life have some historical heft.  Some people will see this historical connection as a sign of value and worth when asking the big questions of meaning and purpose.  We are not some crazy cult sprung from the mind of a science fiction writer, we are not some overnight success of a television personality that is here today and gone tomorrow.  We trace our heritage through a long history of the church, with all its rituals and traditions, writings and wisdom.

Many people today, when looking for spiritual answers, are not interested in the trendy and the transient, they are looking for something tried and true. They have watched the hollow and self-centered spiritual questing of the consumer culture, and they have found it wanting. 

Some are looking to the past for substance as evidenced by an article I read last month with the eye-catching title “Evangelical youth are getting high.”  The article talked about Evangelical young adults being attracted to worship that is sometimes called High Church.  What I see happening here is that certain young people are looking for something that taps into that ancient sense of mystery and awe.

2) We are a REFORMING church, we are flexible and adapting, not content to remain with the status quo if it is not appropriate.  We are not stagnant, we are a living and responsive body, recognizing that things change and so should we.  We take our cue from Jesus who was willing to change how the Law was interpreted and applied, who broke the kingdom of God out into the wider world – with all the changes that brought to the way people worshipped and lived out the command to love others.

We do not shut our eyes and ears to new information, we allow ourselves to be informed by science as well as scripture.  We reflect, then respond, and when needed reform.  So while we are connected to history we are not bound to repeat it in everyway.  This adaptability will be increasingly important in a world that is changing more and more rapidly.

3)  We are a GRACE-CENTERED church – or to put it another way: we are about acceptance.  The need to be accepted, to belong, is as powerful now as it has ever been – maybe more so since we live in an age of hyper-judgementalism and competition.  People live in constant fear of being voted off the island, of being sent home by the judges, by not measuring up.  Reality Shows remind us over and over that only the minority make it, and the rest are “has beens”… outcasts.  Thus Jesus’ message of acceptance of the outcasts can deeply resonate with a contemporary audience – and a grace-centered church can speak that message with authenticity – we can speak it with word and deed.

In a modern world where people thought the end goal was certainty, then legalistic churches could flourish.  But we are shifting into a post-modern age where certainty is not the ultimate, where doubt is expected, where the action of Love speaks far louder than the shouting of Law.  Grace, costly grace, meaningful grace, the grace of God resonates with our context.

4)  We are a CONGREGATIONAL church – and though many might not see the need for community quite yet I believe the time is coming when being part of a supportive community will become more and more important.  There is still a powerful message of individualism permeating our society, but as the American dream slowly crumbles – and that is already taking place – people will rediscover the need for community.  It will not be enough to say “me and Jesus are cool” – it will be become we and Jesus.  Belonging to a congregation does not mean losing one’s identity and uniqueness, we are not a cult – our sense of the body of Christ means that with us people can belong, be supported, yet be themselves.

To sum up – I think the Lutheran church is uniquely positioned to respond to the spiritual needs of our current culture because we are an Ancient/Future church.

So now back to our original questions:

• How can they have faith in someone they haven’t heard of?
• And how can they hear without a preacher?
• And how can they preach unless they are sent?

We are preachers, we’ve been sent… but as I asked earlier:

How do we preach the good news to those who think they have heard?

This is a problem the Apostle Paul never had to face.  This is problem unique to our time and place.  Here we live in the shadow of fundamentalism, which has often been the easy target of those who wish to reject religion, those who wish to reject anything that might make a claim on their life – anything that might move them out of the center of their universe.  The easy way to reject Jesus is to point to those who claim to follow him, yet mostly display bigoted, judgemental ignorance and hatred.

So I ask again, "How can we be heard in such a society?"

Part of the answer comes in the last verse of the passage Romans referred to earlier:  “faith comes from listening”.

Though not exactly what Paul meant, I would like to contend that to be heard we must listen.  We need to listen, before we share.  Too often we are tellers primarily.  We who are preachers have a compulsion to talk, as evidenced here at this study conference – where people will be talking while someone is presenting.

Thus we might ask “Listening to who?”

First, we must listen to God – in scripture, of course, but also in contemplative prayer.  Richard Rohr believes that contemplative prayer is the only way significant changes can happen in one’s life.

Second, we must listen to others.  People need to know that we truly, honestly take an interest in them, that we value them.  So few people feel listened to these days – I suspect that is part of the appeal of texting and social media – one can express one’s self without being interrupted and cut off – at least not as obviously.  People are longing for someone to listen to them, and we are called to listen first, then speak.  In this culture that is the way to get past the suspicion of hypocrisy.  To listen without an agenda, to listen because we honestly want to hear, we truly want to get to know the other.

Then we can ask others to listen to us.

Donald Posterski once said that in our current pluralistic context we must give permission for others to share their stories.  Then we must take permission to share ours.  But it must happen in that order… which requires patience.  But as Paul reminds us “Love is patient”.

You are sent into your own contexts, into your own communities, into your own challenges.  But you do not go alone.  God’s Spirit goes with you, this we believe.  But also we go with one another – we remain a team even as we are dispersed.  We might work in our own parts of the field, but even so we can call out encouraging words to one another.  We are not alone, we are part of the church catholic.

The harvest is large, and the workers are few.  But it is not as bleak as we might feel.  At the beginning of the 4^th century, when Constantine came to power, the estimate is that Christians made up 10% of the Roman Empire.  But 10% was enough to turn a continent to Christ.  We are at a higher percentage than that, and yes the workers are few but we are here.  And we are an answer to prayer.  We preachers are an answer to someone’s prayers.  We have this special calling, we have beautiful feet, we have a holy task – to tell the GOOD NEWS.  In a world filled with Bad News, this is a wonderful gift, an awesome calling, and you are holy people, set apart to proclaim.  So go forth into the future to fulfill your calling buoyed up with hope. We are sent into the world, our world, with this Gospel. Thanks be to God!

The Promise of Presence and a Place – Reflections on Near Death Experiences and the Christian Faith – Part 3

Fresco on the ceiling of Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence Cathedral).
 Painted by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari in the 16th century.
 Photo © 2009 by Dennis Hendricksen

I want to conclude this mini-series on NDEs with a few thoughts about what can be learned from Near-death Experiences. I begin with a few comments on what we can say about NDEs, and end with a few thoughts on what we can learn from NDEs.

The most recent book I have read on this subject was “The Wisdom of Near-death Experiences” by Dr. Penny Sartori. The author is a registered nurse who began researching Near-death Experiences in 1995. This eventually led her to enroll in a PhD program to research NDEs.  When asked to summarise her biggest learnings from her studies Dr. Sartori said  “In medicine, we’re trained to believe that the brain gives rise to consciousness. My research into NDEs has made me question this prevailing paradigm, which admittedly is very widespread. The most important lesson for me has been a deeper appreciation for death and a whole lot less fear and anxiety about it.”

There are a growing number of researchers who are beginning to suggest that the brain is not the creator of consciousness, but rather the mediator of consciousness.  This theory makes sense to me, though I do not have any scientific credentials that would make my opinion count.  However from what I read in Dr. Sartori’s book, and in Dr. Eben Alexander’s book “Proof of Heaven” I believe the question of consciousness remains crucial, and new research is challenging the notion that the brain is the source and end of consciousness.

I find it hard to accept that the vast majority of the world’s cultures and religions have some kind of belief in life continuing after death simply because of an evolutionary need to ease the pain and fear of death and dying.  To simply ignore this vast body of belief as wishful thinking is willful blindness.  I believe NDEs give us a glimpse of a greater mystery, of a greater universe, of a greater reality – one that we simply are not built to see and experience directly as humans.

There were two surprising things related to NDEs that I found out from Dr. Sartori’s book that I don’t recall coming across before:
  

1)  Some people seem to have an altered personal electro-magnetic field after a NDE, which causes wrist-watches to not work properly while worn by the person who has experienced a NDE.  Other related phenomena are light bulbs blowing in one’s presence, and computers turning off and on for no apparent reason when these people are in close proximity.

2)  Some people who have experienced a NDE have unexplained healing within themselves, or even the ability to heal others.  Dr. Sartori’s best example of this was a patient in her study. She writes “He was in bad condition. When we put him into bed he was unconscious and unresponsive. Later he reported an OBE. He was accurately able to tell us which doctor was in the room and what he had said while he was unconscious. He claimed to have met his deceased father and a Jesus-like figure. But the most extraordinary part was that afterwards he was able to use his hand, which had been paralyzed since birth. There is no medical explanation for how that healing occurred.”

What We Can Learn from NDEs

1)  Death is not to be feared.

Most people who have had a NDE will state consistently that they are no longer afraid of death.  They do not seek out death, but due to their experience they are convinced that when it comes there is nothing to be afraid of.  In my personal conversations with people who have had such experiences this was an important emphasis in sharing their story.  Christians affirm we have a Saviour who has defeated death, a Saviour who has promised to prepare a place for us, and to come again and take us to be with him – thus we can be assured that there is something more wonderful than we could ever imagine waiting for us on the other side of this life.  NDEs line up with this belief.

2)      Love is the highest calling.

Many people who have experienced a NDE are significantly transformed afterwards, being far less concerned about material things and wealth, and far more concerned about helping others, and caring for the earth.  This transformation also comes with a sense of mission and purpose – they feel there is something they still need to do in this life, and often that translates into being more loving and compassionate people.  Christians recognize that we are called to be people who care for each other and the world around us. Jesus summarized all the law with a two part commandment: to love God with our whole being and to love our neighbours as ourselves. Loving others is more important than gaining power and wealth for one’s self.  Those who have experienced a NDE seem to re-align themselves to this goal, this they see as fulfilling their purpose, their reason for being.

3)      There are limitations to our current knowledge.

Even in this era of exponential growth of human knowledge there remains mysteries that science and technology cannot answer, simply because they are beyond our ability to perceive and measure in this existence.  Thus faith remains an important aspect of life – even Near-death Experiences do not give us proof beyond a shadow of a doubt of life beyond death.  In the end we cannot be 100% certain about what awaits us beyond death’s door, but we can have faith in the promises of Jesus and live our lives accordingly.

Near-death Experiences raise more questions than they answer, but I believe that given more time and research we will come to understand these experiences better, and perhaps we will develop a better understanding of the wonder and mystery of human consciousness.