Happy Valentine’s Day! I recently published a post on Patreon called Can Love Be Saved? which might be an interesting post to read today. Patreon is a membership website, so normally anything published there is behind a paywall. But this particular post I decided, after publishing it, that I wanted to make it available to everyone, so for it I removed the paywall. I would have re-posted it here, word for word, here, but the powers that be at Patheos... Read more
Today’s guest post is by Mark Longhurst, author of The Holy Ordinary: A Way to God I feel drawn to a life of spiritual depth, inspired by the mystics, but I’m not a monk, nun, or even a professional pastor serving a church anymore. I’m just an ordinary dude working a job I am privileged to love, raising boys who play soccer. I go to my local art cinema, read spirituality books and occasionally science fiction, spend time with my... Read more
N.B. I wrote this post for my new Substack publication, Mystical Journey. But since the message is timely, I’m cross-posting it here. Despite its significant flaws, Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey Mountain is a modern classic of contemplative and mystical literature. But did you know that when it was published in England, it was given a new title? Evelyn Waugh edited (and abridged) the first UK edition of the book, which he renamed as Elected Silence. Americans are so accustomed to... Read more
In chapter five of his book Buddha Is as Buddha Does, dharma teacher Lama Surya Das offers this fascinating insight into the nature of mindfulness: According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, there are four kinds of mindfulness. First comes average mindfulness—the attention that springs naturally and spontaneously through our own interest in a particular person, situation, or phenomenon. For the most part, it’s concerned with worldly matters and lasts as long as the interest itself. The second kind is cultivated or... Read more
I posted this on Facebook not long ago… A couple of people posted comments to the effect of “Please say more about how prayer changes things.” That’s a great question and so here are a few thoughts in response. First, I don’t believe prayer is magic. I once heard that Episcopal priest and writer John Westerhoff define magic like this: “Magic is anything you do to get God to do something that God would not otherwise do.” Now, I have... Read more
A reader wrote to me recently: Hello, I am interested in becoming a Christian Mystic. However I am not sure if I can join a monastery due to being a Baptist Christian. If you know any monasteries that I could join while being Baptist, please let me know. Also, I would like to know other ways to become a Christian Mystic besides joining a monastery. Thank you much for your help. Thank you so much for your message, and you’re... Read more
A reader named Paul wrote to me with the following question: Why is there more often than not such an intolerance, condemnation and even hatred between the different faiths and denominations ? Is it the Devil causing this? Paul, thanks for your question. Before I get into it, I must say that I think “The devil made me do it” is the ultimate cop-out, so I believe we need to dig deeper to understand why Christians can be so unkind... Read more
Allen, who is a reader of this blog, recently sent me a thoughtful email; here are some excerpts from what he wrote: I have a profound connection with the teachings of Jesus, yet I struggle with certain aspects of Christian fundamentalism, particularly the exclusivity that sometimes accompanies it… For me, life seems to be about recognizing that we’re all essentially “children of God,” each of us being eternal spiritual beings. It feels like we’ve forgotten this truth and the journey... Read more
Many years ago, my very first spiritual director recommended a book to me; she suggested that I read Gerald May’s 1982 classic: Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology. I did, and it remains one of my favorite books on the psychology of contemplation. Among many other treasures that I gleaned from this book, it introduced me to two Greek words that I would run into again and again during my years of exploration into mystical and contemplative spirituality. The words... Read more
A Facebook friend recently posted a request for suggestions on books by or about Meister Eckhart. There are so many, that I couldn’t figure out a succinct way to respond to the request, so I figured I’d just post a list of books here instead. So what follows is a list of books featuring English translations of the writings of the medieval German theologian/mystic Meister Eckart, along with some books of commentary, and even a few collections of poetry inspired... Read more
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