Saturday, August 19, 2006

time to Ponder?

"In prayer I am brought into the dynamic life of the Trinity through the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Jesus, who cries out from within my soul: Abba, Father. The spirit of Jesus links me into the Blessed Trinity. When God looks at me, he desires me and is saying: You are desirable. I made you good. I want you. God sees me as his daughter or son, whom he loves. He says: You are mine. His gaze says: I delight in you. Can I accept this gaze of love? Or do I run back into disapproval of myself? His gaze is like sunshine: can I rest in it, bask in it, enabled by the Holy Spirit?"

pasted from: sacredspace.ie

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Mystic Moments

Today I prayed for a while at an unusual place and at an unusual time. I needed to pray. I needed to know God was with me and in me. So in the back of this Roman Catholic Cathedral I knelt down and began to pray. There was no one else there but in moments I felt as though Jesus Christ stood right in front of me. No words came from him, he was just there. I guess it was like when Jesus suddenly appeared to the disciples after his resurrection. All of the sudden he was there. Emmanuel - God with us. Always

This experience reminds me that for all of the study in the world about the Bible and theology the Christian faith is mystical. It is beyond description, classification and analysis. It is mystical. It is by faith that we believe and live. By faith we believe in God. Because of faith we pray to God.

I truly believe I met with Jesus Christ yesterday. I can't prove it and what is more I feel no need to prove it to any of you. I was there and it was a mystical experience only understandable by faith. The mysticism of our faith leads me to think that no matter what is ever written about our faith it can never be fully explained because you must have faith and faith is mystical and mysticism is impossible to explain. There are so many denominations fighting with and against each other to try to define the Christian faith. I think they all fall off the rails when they forget that the Christian life is more than a set of doctrinal truths you give mental assent to. It is a mystical life of faith. The Christian life is a return to the garden of Eden for a walk with God in the cool of the day even when you know there is no garden and the day is not cool. Still in the midst of this life in some way we walk with God in the garden. To try to explain that is not possible it is not a doctrine it is indescribable...

When God changed your life was it not mystical beyond all reason?