Christian Mystics

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The Fox and the Pearl
2007-02-04 00:12:02
A few tidbits today. The first is an invitation to visit the main site and read The Golden Key to Prayer by Emmet Fox. It's a wonderful approach to integrating prayer into your life, and I really recommend you take a moment to discover it and, then, to put it into practice if it so moves you.Journeying around the Internet today, came across a poem by Gibran that wanted to include in the thoughts today:A pearl is a temple builtby pain arounda grain of sand.What longing built our bodiesand around what grains?- Kahlil GibranSand and FoamSo very much going on, so many changes -- most of them good. I hope things are going well for you and yours.Best,Brian
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A Little Reminder
2007-01-31 06:09:06
Going through some tough times these days. With a small bit of breathing room, I took a journey to one of my favorite haunts - Half Price Books.I was looking through their spiritual books, and had picked out a paperback to look at. As I turned, I caught sight of a book that had been put back on the shelf sideways, lying on top of the other books.It was The Sermon on the Mount by Emmet Fox, and what made it special was it was an old hardback edition -- 1935. First, it was odd that an old book such as that was among all the other much newer paperbacks and such. Secondly, odd that it was singled out by it's position. Third, and most of all, I immediately realized it was an old book that used to belong to my father, one he was especially fond of, that I would see lying around his study as a kid.I bought it -- of course -- and have been reading it for the past two days and loving it. More to the point, from the very moment I saw it, it as if my dad was reaching out and saying, "Hey. Yo...
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I just received an email which started off:My eyes ground to
2007-01-15 05:57:01
I just received an email which started off:My eyes ground to a complete halt at the last sentence on your home page: "Welcome to the world of true Christianity." In place of "true," you could have written "alternate" or "another" or "mystical." But to use "true" means that some might interpret this as implying that other approaches to Christianity are false. That path leads to the killing fields in Bosnia Herzegovina, Sudan, Pakistan's low level civil war, Iraq's not so low level civil war, etc. But perhaps I am being too finicky. Regards, Bruce Robinson ReligiousTolerance.orgI thought it was a striking comment and I greatly appreciate it. In fact, it set several things in motion on the site which I'd like to point you towards. First, take a look at the bit of clarification and, I hope, deepening on the first page of the site where Bruce hit a roadblock.If you have time, you might take a deeper look at my reply to the email and such over at True Christianity? on the site...
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'The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that w
2007-01-15 05:57:01
'The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you, he said. They're freeing your soul. So, if you're frightened of dying and... and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth.'A paraphrase of quote by Meister Eckhartas spoken at the end of the filmJacob's LadderTags: Meister Eckhart
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All of us have difficult days, we all have our share of prob
2007-01-15 05:57:01
All of us have difficult days, we all have our share of problems and stress. Myself, in particular. I wonder then, and quite often, if people who find their way to this website (and I'm grateful to each of you) may get the wrong idea about the person behind the site -- myself.There was an old tv show I grew up watching -- To Tell The Truth. Three people -- one of them the actual person whose story was given out by the and two impostors. The object for the panel was to pick which was the real person and at that they often failed miserably. The host would say, "Will the real Filbert Quork please stand up!"If you had three people and my website on To Tell the Truth, I doubt you'd pick me a the author of much of what is here! As far as I can tell, I'm not a person who exudes a spiritual aura. I'm the old guy with the two strokes and diabetes, severe money troubles, and I'm more apt to be the one who has to stay on top of a slightly short temper.Yet, at the same time, I'm also the...
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I paid another of my very, very regular visits to PoetSeers,
2007-01-15 05:57:01
I paid another of my very, very regular visits to PoetSeers, a site that offers an astonishing collection of the poetry of Christian mystics, as well other remarkable samples from a variety of traditions.One poem, which I talk about on the site, really grabbed hold of me. It is what I would call a "re-imagining" of a poem by St. John of the Cross by poet Daniel Ladinsky. I wanted to highlight it by placing it here on the blog. I hope you find it as powerful as I did and, more importantly, that it will lead you back to PoetSeers.org. The site is maintained by followers of Sri Chinmoy, and regardless of one's interest or disinterest in the spiritual teacher, the service provided by this collection of poetry is wonderful. This Earth Is A Bowby St. John of the Cross You letmy sufferings cease,for there was no one who could cure them.Now let my eyes behold your face for you are our only love.My spirit's body is rising near ? this earth a bowthat shot me;now lift me into your arms as so...
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Nativity SermonBy St. Isaac the Syrian (d. AD 700)This Chris
2007-01-15 05:57:01
Nativity Sermon By St. Isaac the Syria n (d. AD 700)This Chris tmas night bestowed peace on the whole world;So let no one threaten;This is the night of the Most Gentle One -Let no one be cruel;This is the night of the Humble One -Let no one be proud.Now is the day of joy -Let us not revenge;Now is the day of Good Will -Let us not be mean.In this Day of Peace -Let us not be conquered by anger.Today the Bountiful impoverished Himself for our sake;So, rich one, invite the poor to your table.Today we receive a Gift for which we did not ask;So let us give alms to those who implore and beg us.This present Day cast open the heavenly doors to our prayers;Let us open our door to those who ask our forgiveness.Today the divine being took upon Himself the seal of our humanity,In order for humanity to be decorated by the Seal of Divinity.Tags: Isaac the Syrian

As I was going through some papers, I found a folded up piec
2007-01-15 05:57:01
As I was going through some papers, I found a folded up piece of newspaper that I'd set aside quite a while ago. Finding it again today, Christmas Eve, seemed especially fortunate, and I wanted to share it with you. To me, it seems a way of looking at things that can bring each of us together, regardless of our particular take on spirituality.God is beyond our capacity to define because to define is to limit. God cannot be controlled, and therefore God cannot be defined, yet our religious traditions guide us in our attempt to experience God's presence and discern God's will. We are invited to trust that beyond the mystery, there is meaning. Our faith is a recognition that there are realities that cannot be adequately expressed in scientific terms, but they are extraordinarily real and extraordinarily important.Faith is the belief in the reality of the unseen.Rabbi Samuel Karff-- Brian RobertsonTags: Samuel Karff, Faith, God's Presence
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Sorry to have been away for a few days, but dental surgery a
2007-01-15 05:57:01
Sorry to have been away for a few days, but dental surgery and complications have made life, well, interesting the past four days!I've been reading an excellent book and one I'd certainly recommend to anyone trying to understand Jesus and get a handle on who he was and who he wasn't: Jesus The Man: An Introduction For People At Home in the Modern World, written by Marvin Cain. Cain is a former Lutheran pastor (and electrical engineer) and now heads MIdWest Columbia Center for Theological Studies.It's impossible to summarize and review the book here, but it is perhaps the clearest, most concise look at Jesus in his various roles that you'll find. Backed with Biblical Research but never stodgy or boring, the work is simply excellent. I have known a lot of people who grew up with the image of Jesus, fled from that image, and then, years later, found this book a life-changing introduction to the Jesus of day to day spirituality and identity.That's a long introduction and a bit of...
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Years ago, a Unitarian minister told me the story about a Un
2007-01-15 05:57:01
Years ago, a Unitarian minister told me the story about a Unitarian who was walking along a road that forked. To the left the sign said "Heaven" while the sign pointing to the right read, "A Discussion About Heaven." Being a Unitarian, the story went, he turned right.I have to admit that throughout most of my life, I eagerly made the right turn as well!As time goes by in my life, however, I tend to want to make my spiritual life more simple, more direct, both in my "theology" as well as in practice so that the two become one thing. Unfortunately, for much of my life I was like the guy who jumped on the horse and rode off in all directions -- I plead guilty to being more than slightly lacking in focus.Things have changed. Spiritually, I now tend to get through the world in two very basic steps.First, I personally make use of the Jesus Prayer -- "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy." This isn't the time or place to "unpack" that and tell you what the words mean to me, but let's say God an...
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Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete, formerly a physicist and a prof
2007-01-15 05:57:01
Monsignor Lorenzo Alba cete, formerly a physicist and a professor of theology at St. Joseph's Seminary in New York, also known as "The Mystic Priest." Add to that another word: delightful.ChristianMystics.com is neither Catholic nor Protestant, I just thought he would be of interest to visitors to the site. His essays have appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times Magazine.For more info go to www.meaningoflife.tv. Tags: Albacete, Christian mystic
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From a collection of St. Isaac the Syrian from the main webs
2007-01-15 05:57:01
From a collection of St. Isaac the Syria n from the main website:Let yourself be persecuted, but do not persecute others.Be crucified, but do not crucify others.Be slandered, but do not slander others.Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep: such is the sign of purity.Suffer with the sick.Be afflicted with sinners.Exult with those who repent.Be the friend of all, but in your spirit remain alone.Be a partaker of the sufferings of all, but keep your body distant from all.Rebuke no one, revile no one, not even those who live very wickedly.Spread your cloak over those who fall into sin, each and every one, and shield them.And if you cannot take the fault on yourself and accept punishment in their place,do not destroy their character.What is a merciful heart? It is a heart on fire for the whole of creation, for humanity, for the birds, for the animals, for demons, and for all that exists. By the recollection of them the eyes of a merciful person pour forth tears in ab...
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After some 30 years of journeying through a variety of tradi
2007-01-15 05:57:01
After some 30 years of journeying through a variety of traditions and approaches to God, as I get older I find simplicity wins out. When I was younger, I was always attracted by the opportunity to debate, study, experiment and, to my embarrassment now, even teach.But health and time have made many things impossible for me, personally, and so I have found that it is enough to approach God simply and directly. One part of this journey has always been the use of a prayer or, in other traditions, a mantra to quiet the mind and heart, for it is always in the silence and not in the words that one finds the Presence of God.Given the fact that I am, through none of my doing, a person born in the West, I have a cultural and traditional base that has come to me (as a different and certainly beautiful one is homegrown in the East). As such, I am extremely interested in the Jesus Prayer, which comes in various forms. According to tradition, the full form is "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have...
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As St. Paul says, ?That which I would not do, I do; and that
2007-01-15 05:57:01
As St. Paul says, ?That which I would not do, I do; and that which I would do, I do not."Ain't it the truth?Paul represents one particular stream of Christian thought, although historically we know there were many, many interpretations and understandings of Jesus in the very first years after his death. Quite simply, his happens to be the side that "won" and shaped what we might call Standard Brand Christianity. Frankly, I disagree with him on various points, but his story is the story of a person racked with tremendous guilt and plagued by their own secret demons. From that, he held to a particular version (quite obviously his own) of the meaning of the Christ with almost no concern of apparent knowledge of the teachings of Jesus.But on this particular quote of Paul's I'm right with him. We all know what Paul is saying here. I can focus my spiritual concentration and write for this blog or this site, I can say the Jesus Prayer or read inspiring works. Two minutes later something...
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Jorge Luis Borges once said, "To rearrange a library is to q
2007-01-15 05:57:01
Jorge Luis Borges once said, "To rearrange a library is to quietly practice literary criticism." I have a few shelves of books around the house, and as I pass by I sometimes wonder which one would be the one I'd keep. Fortunately, I've never had to make that decision, but I did come up with one that obviously I'd like in the top five!This wasn't an academic exercise, I assure you. My wife and I were both involved in a fairly substantial car wreck a few days ago -- which explains why work on the site and this blog slowed to a stop. Now, if only the guy who hit us from behind at 40 miles per hour would have done the same.Both of us ended up in the emergency room of the hospital (and thank you, Brackenridge) and there was quite a bit of waiting time involved. As I breezed through the house on my way to the hospital, I scooped up a small, old-fashioned (as in put-it-in-your-back-pocket style) paperback which I kept with me the whole time to get lost in.A philosophical or theological...
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Put in the name Jesus for a Google Search and you come up wi
2007-01-15 05:57:01
Put in the name Jesus for a Google Search and you come up with 40,600,000 pages. How do others stack up?Internet 1,170,000,000Islam 38,200,000Weight Loss 31,500,000Cell Phone 29,300,000Poker 27,6000,000The Poor 16,800,000George W. Bush 16,100,000Paris Hilton 11,600,000Shakespeare 11,000,000Christianity 8,760,000Beatles 7,830,000Buddha 3,410,000Buddhism 3,170,000Allah 2,090,000Chocolate Chip Cookies 1,210,000Christian Mystic 69,700So, what does all this mean?Haven't a clue! Feel free to draw your own conclusion from this intensely scientific poll. Cough.-- Brian Robertson
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Want to understand a bit more about why Jesus of Nazareth wa
2007-01-15 05:57:01
Want to understand a bit more about why Jesus of Nazareth was and remains so powerful for people today? That experience, I believe, doesn't lie in the various creeds and dogmas, and especially not in the emphasis on Jesus' death to the exclusion of his life and teachings that has characterized Christianity for many, many years.I think, instead, one must ask a very simple question -- what would it be like for you, who you are and as you are, to encounter Jesus amidst the dust of the road or the cool of a mountainside? A wonderful answer worth contemplating and giving some time to came from SacredSpace.ie, one of the most essential Web sites I know of. I wanted to pass it on from today's prayers and lessons:In curing the paralytic Jesus appears again as the affirmer, the one who gives life, frees us for action, and says Yes to us. Look back for a moment. His first miracle is turning water into wine so that the party can go on. The individuals who come to him often feel awful, guilt...
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