Sep 9, 2018 - Dave Lomas. Mysticism is the art of union with God. Mysticism is the pursuit of â or enjoyment of â un
Into the Mystic John 15:1-17 09.09.18 Dave Lomas Mysticism is the art of union with God. Mysticism is the pursuit of — or enjoyment of — union with God. John 15:4 (The Message) “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.”
You have both the ability and the responsibility to live in God. “The Spiritual life is about making space for God in our lives, a space for God to fill, because his greatest desire is to give himself completely to us.” - St. John of the Cross Making Space for God ● Physically (time & place) ● Consciously (everyday awareness) “Make a promise to yourself to sit in silent prayer for a half an hour a day for the next six months. If you are faithful to that, you will recover your sense of God.” His friend protested. But the spiritual director persisted, “Just do it! Show up and sit in silent prayer, even if you feel like you are talking to a wall. It’s the only practical advice I can give you.” - From Prayer by Ronald Rolheiser “Our sense of God’s existence is very much linked to fidelity to prayer. However—and this is a Catch 22—we struggle to sustain long-term, real prayer in our lives.” - Ronald Rolheiser, Prayer
“Prayer is easy only for beginners and for those who are already saints. During all the long years in between, it is difficult. Why? Because prayer has the same inner dynamics as love, and love is sweet only in its initial stage, when we first fall in love, and again in its final, mature stage. In between, love is hard work, dogged fidelity, and needs willful commitment beyond what is normally provided by our emotions and imagination.” - Ronald Rolheiser, Prayer Jesus in John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” “Perhaps more so than even the monk or the minister of the Gospel, she is forced, almost against her will, to mature. For years, while she is raising small children, her time is not her own, her own needs have to be put into second place, and every time she turns around some hand is reaching out demanding something. Years of this will mature most anyone.” - Ronald Rolheiser, Prayer “On one hand, nothing changes as a result of embracing the mystical life, on the other, everything changes. You do the same chores, perform the same tasks, enjoy the same
pleasures, and struggle against the same sins. And yet, you do all of this in the light of your disciplined commitment to seek intimacy with God. It is a light that subtly informs who you are, regardless of whether you are bored or energized by your spiritual exercises on any given day. And the light of your daily practice is the light by which you can see, if not the face of God, then at least the subtle traces of his presence in your life and in your soul.” - Carl McColman, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism “Lord of all pots and pans and things… Make me a saint by getting the meals And washing up the plates!” - Brother Lawrence “You and you and you and I do experience fine, fresh contact with God sometimes, and do carry out his will sometimes. One question now to be put to the test is this: Can we have that contact with God all the time? All the time awake, fall asleep in His arms, and awaken in His presence, can we attain that? Can we do His will all the time? Can we think His thoughts all the time? …I choose to make the rest of my life an experiment in answering this question.” - Frank C. Laubach, Letters by a Modern Mystic
“The Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist at all.” - Karl Rahner
