Mysticism and religion

In his article, "Dry Bones: Why Religion Can't live without Mysticism" (Commonweal Feb. 26, 2010) Professor Luke Johnson makes some interesting statements. He declares that Christian mysticism that finds no center in the Eucharist or the Passion of Christ drifts into a form of self-grooming. This is a strong statement for our very spiritual times, a time when religion is seen as something stagnant and repressive, and spirituality as something freeing, uplifting, soul-stirring. Both spiritual people and religious people seek some form of mysticism. If they didn't, they would cease seeking God at all, for all seeking of the Diving springs from desires to become a mystical being.

Today more than ever, spirituality is seen as the "way to go" you might say. No church authorities to contend with, no power struggles to frustrate, no rules or laws to inhibit. That in itself seems freeing.  But Johnson believes such freedoms also lose the essence of what it means to be mystical. Mystics, properly speaking, are one with the community of believers, sharing the public practice of prayer, the study of sacred texts, and the deeds of charity. It is not by discarding these customs that they find deep spiritual being, but by moving beyond these acts, that they come to swim freely and dive deeply in an ocean bounded by public profession and practice.

Mystics show all of us that religion is not an evil to be avoided, but a springboard that can propel us far higher into the spiritual world. We are only tied down by religion if we live solely by its rules and obligations, and do not drink deeply from its spiritual waters. We can pierce that seemingly impenetrable wall of structure and come into a wide open space of spirit and truth and love and light and freedom.

Mysticism is like a sport. You don't enjoy it fully until you've given yourself enough time to learn, practice, and play. It means learning to be still, to find God within, to go beyond prescription and custom to experience and enlightenment. As with sports, the process can be painful; dark nights, doubts, insecurity. But if one pushes on, pushes the envelope, pushes through, not against, religion, you will find that wonderful light that is the reward of a constant faith.