Mystics on My Mind

In this book, I share little lessons from mystics. Mysticism is often defined as union with the divine. Mystics, I always thought, had supernatural experiences like ecstatic dreams and visions or spiritual markings like the stigmata, or could defy the laws of physics by levitating or bi-locating. Maybe that’s the reason I was attracted to mysticism in the first place. I mean, seriously, who wouldn’t want superpowers?

Look out, Spider-Man. Now these aren ’ t lessons about how to be a mystic. Nor are they lessons that try to explain an understanding of some of the greatest questions our faith poses: How is Jesus true God and true human? Why did Jesus have to die? What did Jesus mean when he told us to love one another? How is God three and one at the same time? The truth is, I can ’ t help you answer those questions because I’m not sure of them myself.

After spending time getting to know the stories of different mystics, I know now that mysticism is about recognizing that our ordinary experiences are supernatural because

God is present in them. We just have to learn how to recognize God’s presence. That’s what I hope to accomplish with this book: I hope the lessons I share here will help you find God in all things, in places you would expect him to be, in places you’d never think of looking, and in places where you were sure God couldn’t be.

We need to learn how to do this now more than ever. We face major challenges as a species. Our planet is crying out to us for help, and we cannot hear her because we cannot find God in our sister Mother Earth. We are infatuated by violence because we are unable to find God in our sisters and brothers. We chase after comfort and happiness because we cannot find God in ourselves.

We cannot find God because we have spent our time looking for answers to our deepest questions. Instead, we need to learn to be comfortable with mystery. By mystery, I mean these basic questions: Who is God? and Who am I? They are the heart of the mystic, that is, someone who lives the mysteries, who lives with these questions because every answer is, at best, inadequate or always evolving.