Here’s the second release in my new series of “Mystical Minute” videos. The topic of this one: “the book that changed my life.” This is a brief introduction to Mysticism by Evelyn Underhill. After acknowledging that my first copy of the book (given to me by a friend when I was 18) has a hideously ugly cover, I briefly explain why this book matters to me — and why it...
Friends, here is a new video I’d like to share with you. God willing, this will be the first of a series of videos I will be creating in the months to come. This video, like all my online content, is funded through Patreon. When I set up my Patreon account, I set several goals: commitments for new content or new projects that I would undertake when the number of patrons supporting my work...
Over 100 people came out to join me in an exploration of my new initiative, an online course, which I hope will be the first of a series I’m calling The Contemplative Study of Mystical Writings. Here’s a recording of that meeting, see below. And if you want to learn more about the course, click here.
I’ve recently been re-reading one of the most fascinating and unusual books of mystical wisdom to have been written within the last 100 years. This is actually my third time through the book, and I know I will read it again, certainly more than once. It’s one of those rare books that rewards multiple readings, each new journey through it yielding new insights. I’m not the only...
I first “met” Julian of Norwich through reading Evelyn Underhill’s magisterial book Mysticism: The Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness. Underhill’s book changed my life, for a number of reasons: it gave me a language and a context for making sense of my spiritual experience, it helped me to see that there is a place for an intellectually honest, interfaith...
If you share with others a moment of profound mystical insight that you have does it, in fact, make it stronger and real for the person with the epiphany? In other words, in the retelling does it gain strength?
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So much of the language of the New Testament, and of so many of the mystics (at least in the Christian tradition), is language of love. God is love (or as I like to say, "Love-with-a-capital-L"). We love because God first loved us. God's love is poured into our hearts.
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Friends, I’m excited to announce a major new initiative on this website. Coming on February 1, 2021, I’m launching a Christian Mysticism (Un)Knowledge Base. (Update: it’s been launched! Visit the Unknowledge Base by clicking here) What’s that? You might be wondering. Think of it as a help desk for exploring the world of Christian mystical spirituality. If you develop...
One of my dreams is to create a Christian Mysticism Knowledge Base (or, perhaps better described as a Christian Mysticism Un-knowledge Base!). I wrote the following questions a while back thinking that they would go into the FAQ page of a Mysticism Knowledge Base. And maybe they will. But for now, I’m publishing them here. What is Christian Mysticism? Christian mysticism, an aspect of...
Here is the third episode of my “Schola Mystica” podcast. The transcript of the episode appears below. Mysticism is a notoriously difficult word to define — which means it is a tricky concept to understand. The word gets used in slightly — or significantly — different ways, in different contexts. If we speak of Christian mysticism, or Eastern mysticism, or Neo-Platonic mysticism, we...
“Is mysticism in the Bible?” It’s a question I get asked from time to time. And while the word mysticism itself is not found in scripture, the elements of mysticism are very much part of the Biblical story. In the first of what I imagine will be multiple videos on this topic, I begin to explore mysticism in the Bible by focusing on three verses that speak of silence — in a...
Contemplative Outreach Atlanta has just finished their first online 5-Day Retreat. Historically this retreat took place each year at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit; I’ve been a participant on the retreat, and it’s been a wonderful experience. This year, with the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the retreat was moved to a Zoom format. The organizer of the retreat, Maggie...