Transcendent Philosophy: An International Journal For Comparative Philosophy And Mysticism

Christian Mysticism – a subjective view

Published by London Academy of Iranian Studies: December 2024

Volume 25, Number 36

Author(s):

William Morris
NCF, London, UK

Keywords: Christian Mysticism, Origen, Clement of Alexandria, The Cloud of Unknowing, Julian of Norwich, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Khalil Gibran, ecstatic praise, Pentecostal, speaking in tongues, Thomas Merton, Neale Donald Walsch, ecstatic payer, charismatic, Gnosticism.

Abstract

Christian Mysticism is a subjective approach to God that involves an intense, impassioned love for God that can transport you into times of sustained bliss or of inspiration. Early Christianity had its mystical elements, and it had many practitioners in the Fathers of the early Church. Origen of Alexandria was a scholar whose beliefs influenced and continue to influence, the approach of many Christian mystics. In the modern era, mysticism is enjoying something of a revival, particularly in the “charismatic” Christian movement. Christian mysticism is not constrained by social mores and has a wide range of expression.

Type:

Research Article

Information:

Transcendent Philosophy Journal, Volume 25, Issue 36 , Published on December 2024, Pages 33-56

DOI:

Pending

Permanent Link:

https://iranianstudies.org/transcendent_philosophy/volume-25-number-36/christian-mysticism-a-subjective-view

Creative Commons License:

CC BY

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


Copyright © London Academy of Iranian Studies, 2025.

Introduction

What is Christian Mysticism?

When you ask, “What is Sufism?” you know what you are dealing with. It is a definable phenomenon. You may differ as to your interpretation of that phenomenon. But it is a clear approach to God that involves or has some emphasis on a complete oneness of yourself with the Supreme Being.[1]

Christian Mysticism usually, but most certainly not invariably, does not involve an attempt at that complete merging into God. The Supreme Being is still the Great Unknown in so much as you are not subsuming your identity into God, as a rule. But it is difficult saying “as a rule” in regard to a phenomenon that has no rules.

Christian Mysticism does however involve an intense, impassioned love for God that can at moments, transport you either into times of sustained bliss as in worship, or of inspiration as in mystical writing.

Can you have an intense, impassioned love for God without being a mystic? Of course you can. Many do. And many who commit their lives to God are not mystics.

Mysticism involves walking at the edge in a way in which social mores are abandoned should they get in the way. Indeed mysticism generally actually involves stepping outside commonly socially acceptable behaviour – or at the very least an eager willingness to step outside the norms of socially acceptable behaviour – in pursuit of closeness to the God whom you love. It is an abandoned approach to life, at least at times of worship.

I do not for a moment doubt that an abandoned approach to worship is to be found in mysticism in other religious traditions. But Christian mysticism has its own unique flavor. It can best be described by describing the phenomenon in practice.

Early Christian Mysticism

Christianity in its earliest period had its mystical elements, as did Judaism before it[2]. The gospel of Thomas[3] and the gospel of John and the Book of Revelations all display strong elements of early Christian Gnosticism[4] which was prevalent in much of North Africa during the first few centuries of Christianity. The beautiful first Chapter of John, which has its roots in Ancient Egyptian mysticism[5], is a classic example. Thus the first few arguably mystical lines begin:

In the beginning was the word,

And the Word was with God,

And the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by Him;

And without him was not anything made that was made.

In him was life;

And the life was the light of men.

And the light shineth in darkness;

And the darkness comprehended it not.

Mysticism then, as now, was to be found in elements of mainstream Christianity and it had many practitioners in the Fathers of the early Church. Take for instance Alexandrian mysticism: The Alexandrian contribution to Christian mysticism centres on Origen (c.185 – c.253) and Clement of Alexandria (150–215 AD).

Origen of Alexandria was most certainly not a mystic but he was a scholar whose beliefs influenced, and continue to influence, the approach of many Christian mystics.  One of Origen’s main teachings was the doctrine of the preexistence of souls which held that before God created the material world he created a vast number of incorporeal “spiritual intelligences”. All of these souls were at first devoted to the contemplation and love of their Creator. When God created the world, the souls which had previously existed without bodies became incarnate. Those whose love diminished the least became angels. One soul, however, who remained perfectly devoted to God became, through love, one with the Word (Logos) of God. The Logos eventually took flesh and was born of the Virgin Mary, becoming the God-man Jesus Christ.

Origen conceived and was the first proponent of what was to become the doctrine of the trinity. He also believed in the ultimate salvation of all mankind. A concept that is no longer prevalent in mainstream Christianity though it is regaining acceptance. The Yezidis who share this belief may have been influenced by Origen.

Clement of Alexandria, on the other hand, was most clearly a mystic. To Clement, sin is involuntary, and thus irrational, removed only through the wisdom of the Logos. God’s guidance away from sin is thus a manifestation of God’s universal love for mankind. Clement argues for the equality of sexes, on the grounds that salvation is extended to all humans equally. Unusually, he suggests that Christ is neither female nor male, and that God the Father has both female and male aspects: the Eucharist is described as milk from the breast (Christ) of the Father.

Our Christian theology since the Middle Ages has become over-analytical and too rational, leaving no room for paradox and mystery. The doctrine of the Trinity is in essence a mystery. For many Christian mystics, to try to understand it rationally is to lose the sense of it. It is an emotional response to the understanding of God. Even Origen, who was its first proponent, took this approach. The vast sweep of the teachings of men like Clement and Origen (and Origen’s writings were nothing short of prolific) in essence legitimized mysticism. They enabled Christians in those formative years of the church to think outside of the box and not be constrained. Alexandrians were drawn to mystical and allegorical exposition, in contrast with the literal and historical method of Antioch. It is ironic that subsequently, the theological thought that these freethinkers had spawned was used to constrain and straightjacket the church at the Councils of Nicaea[6]. The Nicene Creed that was the outcome was subsequently used as an excuse for the murder of countless Christian freethinkers and their followers down through the ages. It is, increasingly, recited in many Christian churches in modern times. It starts with the controversial words: “We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father. Through him all things were made.” Its current near universal usage would perhaps have horrified Origen. Ironically he himself was subsequently condemned as a heretic for (amongst other things) teaching of the pre-existence of souls and that all souls were originally equal to Christ’s and would become equal again at the end of time. Emperor Justinian I (reign 527-565) denounced Origen as a heretic and ordered all of his writings to be burned. For that matter Clement of Alexandria also became condemned as a heretic as the Church became more repressive about its beliefs. One of the many ideas of his that led to his condemnation as a heretic (and the church still regards him as such) was the belief that matter and thought are eternal, and thus did not originate from God, contradicting the doctrine of Creatio ex nihilo.

Many, indeed most, of the mystics and free thinkers in the early church are now, it is perhaps shameful to admit, regarded as heretics.

Medieval Mysticism

Mysticism was a feature of Christianity from the start; arguably far moreso than today. St Paul speaks of being lifted up into heaven. Congregations are baptized in the Holy Ghost[7] with the accompanying ecstatic experience. Some speak in tongues. Many prophesied. However mysticism had a flowering in the Church of the Middle Ages[8]. Some regarded as mystics by many, like Mother Shipton of York[9], are really just local soothsayers. Others bear all the hallmarks of real mystics, like the anonymous author of the Cloud of Unknowing, or like Julian of Norwich. Both of whom are hugely influential in the Christian tradition in the English speaking world.

The Cloud of Unknowing (Annonymous, 1961 by Penguin but first manuscripts late 14th Century) is best thought of as a handbook for meditation with examples of contemplative thought and practice. It is an anonymous work of Christian mysticism written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century. It is Buddhist or Sufi in contemplative style, for example suggesting meditation on the name of God and a melding of your being with God. It is based on the concept that the would be contemplative has to get past a “cloud of unknowing” that stands between yourself and God. For example:

For He can well be loved, but he cannot be thought. By love he can be grasped and held, but by thought, neither grasped nor held. And therefore, though it may be good at times to think specifically of the kindness and excellence of God, and though this may be a light and a part of contemplation, all the same, in the work of contemplation itself, it must be cast down and covered with a cloud of forgetting. And you must step above it stoutly but deftly, with a devout and delightful stirring of love, and struggle to pierce that darkness above you; and beat on that thick cloud of unknowing with a sharp dart of longing love, and do not give up, whatever happens.[10]

In her way, Julian of Norwich (sometimes called Juliana of Norwich c. 1343-1443), whose emphasis was on revelation rather than teaching the practice of meditation, was more influential. She shut herself in and depended on the charity of passersby for food and sustenance and meditated on the God she loved and wrote down her inspired thoughts. And they were beautiful indeed. Her writings, now known as Revelations of Divine Love (Revelations of Divine Love, Penguin edition 1973 from manuscripts first published c.15th century), are the earliest surviving English language works by a woman. Here are a few quotations from her writings that give an idea of the way she thought:

  • “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”
  • “The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love.”
  • “Truth sees God, and wisdom contemplates God, and from these two comes a third, a holy and wonderful delight in God, who is love.”
  • “Our Savior is our true Mother in whom we are endlessly born and out of whom we shall never come.”
  • “But for I am a woman should I therefore live that I should not tell you the goodness of God?”
  • “It is easier for us to get to know God than to know our own soul…God is nearer to us than our soul, for He is the ground in which it stands…so if we want to know our own soul, and enjoy its fellowship, it is necessary to seek it in our Lord God.”
  • “For a kind soul hath no hell but sin.”

 

Modern Mysticism from Gerard Manley Hopkins to Khalil Gibran

Modern Christian mysticism comes in a wide range of incarnations and is not easy to encompass in a definition beyond saying that it involves inspired communion with God. However, in its written form, it finds some of its most exquisite expression in the writings of Gerard Manley Hopkins and Khalil Gibran. And the approach of these two mystics is poles apart. Essentially, Gerard Manley Hopkins uses nature, which is the natural world, rather than humanity, as his personal catalyst for his relationship with God. For Khalil Gibran, although nature in the widest sense matters, it is humanity’s relationships with humanity, your relationship with the other, which is the prime focus of what is clearly deeply spiritual inspired writing. So let us deal with them one by one to be clear in regard to the difference. Manley Hopkins wrote poetry. Gibran wrote prose that was close to and sometimes was poetry.

For Gerard Manley Hopkins[11] other human beings, most particularly women, were a distraction in his search for an encounter with God. He found God, or should I say God found him, in the natural world. Indeed women were such an intense distraction for this man of God that when he encountered a woman, he would avoid eye contact in a way which was common amongst some in the monastic tradition in his time, by keeping his eyes lowered towards the ground throughout any discussion.

This problem with the distraction caused by women for men is not uncommon. It finds expression in the inclination of most Orthodox rabbis and Ayatollahs not to shake hands with women. This practice many modern women, including my own mother, find offensive. So much so that my mother felt belittled by it when she encountered the practice in an orthodox rabbi who was a friend of mine and it forever coloured her attitude to him. She would not, God rest her soul, have found it easy to meet Manley Hopkins. But he was what he was. And he was one of the most God inspired poets of all time, despite what some would regard as his human failings. Here is one of the better known of his many exquisite poems. It is subtitled as being for (i.e. about) Christ our Lord. For the devout Christian the parallels are clear with the redemptive, sacrificial Christ. The line-breaks in the poem are exactly as written by the poet. It is titled the Windhover, “Windhover” being a name for the kestrel[12]. It is one of three poems I learnt off by heart as a young man[13]. It begs to be read aloud:

The Windhover

To Christ our Lord

I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!

Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!

No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.

For the Lebanese Christian mystic, Khalil Gibran[14], relationships with his fellow human beings were his path to God. The whole emphasis of his writing is on the divine aspect of humanity and how to make the other into the best they can be as a reflection of the divine will. His best known work is The Prophet (Gibran, 1926). Here are a few extracts that give a flavor of his thought:

  • ON LOVE: If in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure. Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing floor, into the seasonless world where you will laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears. Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.” And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

  • ON MARRIAGE: You were born together, and together you shall be for evermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness. And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
  • ON CHILDREN: You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The Archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the Archer’s hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
  • ON GIVING: You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward. And there are those that give with pain, and that pain is their baptism. And there are those that give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue . . . Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

  • ON WORK: When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.

And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.

Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.

  • ON DEATH: What is to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is to cease breathing but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered.

 

Ecstatic Praise in Charismatic Christianity

One basic feature of modern mysticism is the practice of ecstatic praise. Zeal captures the congregation: hands are raised in celebration. This is a particular feature of the strand of Christianity known as “charismatic Christianity”. The charismatic Christian movement is not a formal movement as such and it finds expression in Anglicanism and Catholicism almost as often as it does in the new non-conformist and independent churches. Charismatic Christianity is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts as an everyday part of a believer’s life. Some church movements are completely “Pentecostal” like the Sovereign Grace Churches and the Every Nation Churches in the United States and the Newfrontiers churches in Great Britain. There is a “Pentecostal” church movement that embraces many churches of this kind. The word “Pentecost” refers to the point fifty days[15] after the resurrection of Christ at which the Disciples of Christ were baptized in tongues of fire by the Holy Spirit of God.

If you are in a charismatic church, the notable feature will be a lot of singing in praise of God, during the course of which people will both individually and collectively abandon themselves to unstructured vocalized prayer in praise of God. This may also translate itself into the music and the singing which may also become unstructured and deteriorate in a pleasant and abandoned way into a cacophony of quasi harmonious sound. Hands are often raised in praise of God during this process.

Falling under the Holy Spirit

Not all would describe modern charismatic Christianity as part of the practice of Christian mysticism. For me it is in its sense of abandonment to the praise and contemplation of God fully as much as the “Whirling Dervishes”[16] of Turkey and the Levant are part of Sufi mysticism.

One key phenomenon almost universally associated with charismatic Christianity, and indeed with some expressions of devout Christian practice long before modern charismatic Christianity arrived on the scene, is that of “falling under the Spirit”. Baptism in the Spirit of God or “Holy Ghost” was an aspect of earliest Christian practice and is recorded extensively and repeatedly in the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles.

The simplest way to explain this is to explain my own experiences. I was aware of the phenomenon in an abstract way as anyone would who had read their scriptures.[17] But the first time I saw and experienced the power of the Holy Spirit was at the hands of Pastor Len Davies in an independent chapel in Lower Cwmtwrch in the Swansea Valley. I walked in out of mere curiosity but the preaching was stirring as was the singing. A small band of trumpet, guitar and drums played in a corner and the boy on the trumpet was lost in his music in praise of God which was completely abandoned form of improvisation in a way which modern jazz could never begin to replicate. And the Pastor said, “Anyone who wishes to commit their lives to God come to the front”. And I was one of those that walked forward. And he placed his hands on my head as I stood there. And a force that I can only describe as akin to be struck by a bolt of lightning pushed me to the ground. Had someone not caught me I might perhaps have injured myself in my fall. And I lay on the ground, lost in the moment.

I had an even more dramatic experience years later when I was depressed at having been turned down for ordination into the Anglican Church. I went to see a friend, the Reverend Andy Arbuthnot of the London Healing Mission. I told him of my troubles. It was winter. There was a one bar electric heater glowing red in the corner of the room. Andy asked whether we should ask the Holy Spirit to come. I said, “ Yes”. He said, “Then ask”. I said, “Come Holy Spirit, Come”. On this occasion, I was not merely knocked to the ground. My eyes were closed but what I can best describe as a crackling light completely filled my vision and a force seemingly of electricity powered down from the top of my head into my body.

I entered that place in depression. I left that place as if I were walking on air. My mother said it was “self-hypnosis” when I told her of the experience. You must make your own judgment.

Speaking in Tongues

The Christian practice of “speaking in tongues” has its genesis in the first Pentecost. In the early Christian church in the West, Pentecost, called Whitsun in the English Speaking World until comparatively recently, was the most important day in the Christian year (more important than Christmas or Easter). It was called Whitsun because of the Christian practice of reserving baptisms for Whitsun (children to be baptised wore white).

At the first Pentecost, after the disciples were baptized with tongues of fire, they went out and preached and were understood by the crowd even though they were presumably speaking Aramaic and the crowd that listened to them were a mixed group drawn from many nations.[18]

From this genesis came the practice of abandoned speech in apparently indecipherable praise. Some call this glossolalia[19]. It is regarded as a “gift” of the Holy Spirit of God[20].

Now evidently by no means all Christian mystics speak in tongues, nor do all charismatic Christians speak in tongues. But some do and it is one of many potential expressions of the abandonment to God that is a feature of Christian mysticism. And by the way, singing in tongues is as common as speaking in tongues in charismatic congregations. It makes for a strangely melodious cacophony of sound.

Again I turn to my own experience. My wife, Veronica, and I were attending Holy Trinity Brompton Road, an Anglican Church, noted then and now for the practice of charismatic Christianity. Our friend the Reverend Andy Arbuthnot sometimes preached there. He asked us whether we would like to receive the gift of speaking in tongues. We said yes, largely out of zealous curiosity. He took us to a side chapel where we knelt together. He told us to pray and speak our prayers in uncontrolled praise. He laid hands upon us as we did so. And we spoke. What we each spoke I have no idea. For me it was a flow of syllables that had elements of Welsh and Arabic – but for each person it is different. However the abandonment to praise allowed the experience of the Holy Spirit to take over. And that I can again only describe in terms of my own experience, which is that of a kind of power, almost an electricity, that spreads into you from you’re the top of your skull downwards and is very different from most ordinary sensual experiences and quite asexual[21]. But it stays with you and keeps you God focused. I commend the practice to you. It is, like all of the gifts of the spirit, open to all.

One final point. I have called speaking in tongues a vehicle for praise. That it is. But it is also perhaps more poignantly a vehicle for speaking your deepest, most painful, concerns to God. A vehicle for unburdening yourself. You do not have to use understandable words to express your supplication, praise or contrition. You may not understand what you are saying to God. But God understands and reaches down deep into your soul and takes your meaning because you have opened yourself to your creator. It is like opening a channel between yourself and your God.

Prophetic Mysticism

Prophesy involves revelation from the Great Unknown of things that may happen if, for example, a nation or an individual does not change their ways. Prophesy does not always have to be inevitable. Thus the people of Nineveh repented when Jonah prophesied their doom and were spared (much to Jonah’s annoyance).

Prophesy is clearly by no means the exclusive domain of the mystic. And by no means all mystics prophesy. But this does happen, often at a local level, often as a response to intense prayer. Call it revelation if the word “prophesy” disturbs you. Many Christians find it disturbing to talk of prophesy in post biblical times as do many Muslims[22].

However those mystics that find they prophesy do not, as a rule, call themselves prophets in the all-encompassing biblical sense. Prophesy is an aspect of their experience. Not their raison d’être. And it can be self-fulfilling. For example I may feel I know the place and month and year of my death. That could be a self-fulfilling prophesy. On a larger scale prophesy is often self-fulfilling. I could say that the human race is doomed because they have failed to care for mother earth. That would be a self-fulfilling prophesy if humanity does not change its ways.

Thomas Merton (1915–1968), the monk, was undoubtedly a mystic and a prophet. But then some would say the same of Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961) who was the youngest person ever to have been Secretary General of the United Nations and was in his very different way a Christian mystic and a prophet[23]. Here are a few quotes from the mystic Thomas Merton. Would you define them as prophetic? You can say:

  • “In the modern world, people are always holding up their heads and marching into the future, although they haven’t the slightest idea what they think the “future” is or could possibly mean. The only future we seem to walk into, in actual fact, is full of bigger and more terrible wars, wars well calculated to knock our upraised heads off those squared shoulders.” ― Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain.
  • “SOULS are like wax waiting for a seal. By themselves they have no special identity. Their destiny is to be softened and prepared in this life, by God’s will, to receive, at their death, the seal of their own degree of likeness to God in Christ. And this is what it means, among other things, to be judged by Christ. The wax that has melted in God’s will can easily receive the stamp of its identity, the truth of what it was meant to be. But the wax that is hard and dry and brittle and without love will not take the seal: for the hard seal, descending upon it, grinds it to powder. Therefore if you spend your life trying to escape from the heat of the fire that is meant to soften and prepare you to become your true self, and if you try to keep your substance from melting in the fire—as if your true identity were to be hard wax—the seal will fall upon you at last and crush you. You will not be able to take your own true name and countenance, and you will be destroyed by the event that was meant to be your fulfillment.” ― Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation
  • “The most awful tyranny is that of the proximate Utopia[24] where the last sins are currently being eliminated and where, tomorrow, there will be no more sins because all the sinners will have been wiped out.” ― Thomas Merton, Gandhi on Non-Violence

Automatic Writing

Automatic writing has no specific association with Christian mysticism, and yet it is often practiced by Christian mystics. It is the practice of not making a conscious effort to determine what you write but to allow your writing to be Spirit inspired. To call it automatic writing is to downgrade it in the eyes of the believer but a non-Christian might describe it as such. Sometimes whole books have been written in that fashion. And certainly much inspired prose and poetry is written in that manner. You can try it yourself of course. Just sit, with a pen and paper, be still, and write what comes to you without conscious effort. You will, perhaps, be very surprised at the result.

A modern mystic in this Christian tradition[25] is the American writer Neale Donald Walsch (Walsch, 1996). Three short extracts by way of example (the speaker is God):

  • The Highest Thought is always that thought which contains joy. The Clearest Words are those words that contain truth. The Grandest Feeling is that feeling which you call love.
  • I will never coerce you. For I have given you free will – the power to do as you choose – and I will never take that away from you, ever.
  • The correct prayer is never a prayer of supplication, but a prayer of gratitude. When you thank God in advance for that which you choose to experience in your reality, you, in effect, acknowledge that it is there . . . in effect. Thankfulness is thus the most powerful statement to God; an affirmation that even before you ask, I have answered. Therefore never supplicate. Appreciate.

Ecstatic Prayer

Not all inspired prayer is prayer in the Holy Spirit. Indeed many prayers of great passion are listened to and acted upon by God. The prayer is not somehow greater because it is a prayer in the Spirit. Prayers for healing made with great passion may not be prayers in the Spirit but they can enable healing.

However there is a form of prayer in which the Spirit uses the supplicant that is a particular approach to prayer. It is used in, but not confined to, healing prayer. It involves allowing the power of the Spirit of God to enter you.

Some prayers can be prayed, and prayed very effectively, when you are sleepy. But Spirit filled prayer is, by its very nature, a wide-awake prayer. You may be exhausted. Your physical freshness or tiredness is not the issue. You will be wide awake. And you open yourself. You become a channel. And you feel the Holy Spirit course through you.

Christ walked through the crowd and he felt the power go out of him and he asked, “Who touched me?”[26] This is an example of a state of being in communion with God, which is archetypically similar to a state of being when the person praying is in the Spirit. It is a gift open to all but not all will take this path often or ever. But when you have tried it, you will know what it is like.

Some who are healers may use this form of prayer often. That is not to say that all healers are Spirit filled. Some heal by the strength given by total belief. There are many paths to healing.

The path of the Spirit is one of power. Like a force, it is palpable. But it is a gentle force. Some use the analogy of electricity but it is not electricity. Charlatans can pretend to use this force and use static electricity as their vehicle. I have seen that done.

This is a power at a deeper level. You are not the power but you are used by it. And it can and does pass through you to others. Hence its particular use in healing ministry.

The Holy Spirit enables you to counter the darkness and proclaim the light. Try it.

Conclusion

Essentially Christian mysticism is a freethinking, unconstrained approach to a relationship with God in which the normal mores and constraints of society need not apply. Though it featured large in early Christianity, it was sidelined by the established church over the centuries. That said it has always existed at the fringe of and sometimes within the Christian mainstream. And it is now enjoying a rebirth in its modern revival both within the Charismatic church movement and elsewhere. We live in a Spirit filled age, and perhaps that evidence of the Spirit in action is necessary, given the apocalyptic challenges of war, climate change, and mega technological advance, that face us in tomorrow’s world.

 

Bibliography:

  1. Annonymous. (1961 by Penguin but first manuscripts late 14th Century). The Cloud of Unknowing. London: Penguin Classics.
  2. Gibran, K. (1926). The Prophet. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
  3. Lings, Martin (2010) What is Sufism? Cambridge, Islamic Texts Society.
  4. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (2008) The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam’s Mystical Tradition. New York: HarperOne.
  5. Norwich, J. o. (Penguin edition 1973 from manuscripts first published c.15th century). Revelations of Divine Love. London: Penguin Classics.
  6. Walsch, N. D. (1996). Conversations with God: an uncommon dialogue. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

End Notes

[1] See Lings, Martin (2010) What is Sufism? Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (2008) The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam's Mystical Tradition. New York: HarperOne.
[2] The Old Testament records many instances of the practice of mysticism. For example, Israel’s first King, Saul, is recorded as having abandoned himself to the Spirit. The first recorded instance is in 1 Samuel verse 10, where we are told, “the Spirit of God possessed him”. His successor King David was sometimes so zealous in his abandonment that he danced and pranced in the Spirit, a practice that caused some embarrassment to those close to him and one rarely seen today.
[3] The beautiful gnostic Gospel of Thomas was only rediscovered comparatively recently and is not in the accepted Cannon of Scriptures.
[4] Gnosticism is a manner of religious practice that emphasises personal spiritual knowledge above mainstream orthodox teaching and tradition. And emphasis on mysticism is one of the common strands of gnostocism.
[5] In the Heliopolitan cosmogony, Atum-Ra, the Great He-She, created himself from the chaotic primordial Waters of Nun by an effort of will. In the beginning was the word: he spoke and therefore he was. He then made love to his shadow and the rest of creation followed.
[6] The First Council of Nicaea was in 325 AD. Emperor Constantine convened this council to settle a controversial issue, the relation between Jesus Christ and God the Father. The Emperor wanted to establish universal agreement on it. Representatives came from across the Empire, subsidized by the Emperor.
[7] The Holy Ghost is the now archaic term for what in modern Christianity (post c1965) is called the Holy Spirit. In most establishment Christianity the Holy Spirit is considered part of a triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit being co-equal aspects of God. The idea (which only took its current shape in the 4th Century AD) being that though there is only one God, there are three distinct persons. However the concept of a Holy Spirit is not unique to Christianity and as a phenomenon it can be palpable. In Judaism God's Holy Spirit is not a person but is a manifestation of God's imperceptible power by which He accomplishes His divine purpose and will. In Islam the Holy Spirit (Arabic: روح القدس Ruh al-Qudus, "the Spirit of Holiness") is mentioned four times in the Qur'an, where it acts as an agent of divine action or communication.
[8] The Mediæval era, often called the Middle Ages or the Dark Ages, began around 476 A.D. following a great loss of power throughout Europe by the Roman Emperor. The Middle Ages span roughly 1,000 years, ending between 1400 and 1450.
[9] Ursula Southeil (c. 1488 – 1561), popularly known as Mother Shipton, was an English soothsayer and prophetess according to English folklore.
[10] The Cloud of Unknowing and other works. Penguin Classics. 2001. ISBN 978-0-14-044762-0. Translated by A. C. Spearing
[11] Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ was an English poet and Jesuit priest 1844-1889
[12] Windhover is another name for the common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus). The name refers to the bird's unique ability to hover quite still in midair for considerable periods of time (regardless of wind conditions) and then dive at breathtaking speed whilst seeking out and hunting prey.
[13] The other two being the chapter on love from the Prophet by Khalil Gibran and Kubla Khan by William Taylor Coleridge.
[14] Khalil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet 1883-1931
[15] Pentecost is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day after Easter Sunday (i.e. 49 days or seven weeks later counting Sunday to Sunday). It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles of Jesus while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles.
[16] Sufi whirling is a form of physically active meditation which originated among some Sufi groups, and which is still practiced by the Sufi Dervishes of the Mevlevi order and other orders such as the Rifa'i-Marufi.
[17] For instance Acts 2:2: And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
[18] The word Pentecost comes from a Jewish harvest festival called Shavuot. The disciples were celebrating this festival when the Holy Spirit descended on them. It sounded like a very strong wind, and it looked like tongues of fire. The disciples then found themselves speaking in foreign languages, inspired by the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:1-13). God’s use of the gift of speech understandable by those speaking different languages is there for a symbolic purpose of course. It implies that the work of the Holy Spirit shall not be constrained by the barrier of language. 
[19] Glossolalia is an activity or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables that lack any readily comprehended meaning.
[20] First Corinthians 12:8-11 King James version: For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
[21] An important point because some observers have drawn parallels between sexual ecstasy and mystical bliss. There is no similarity. The bliss experienced at times of intense prayer by the mystic involves and centres on the very top of the skull, almost the scalp, and builds slowly as it is then sustained in a state of openness to the Spirit of God. This may then spread downwards in gentle electric force (sometimes to the hands) which the mystic can sometimes actually transmit to another (hence the warmth of healing hands). Sexual ecstasy, though it does reach the mind, has its genesis very definitely in the body and involves a building to a zenith of cathartic experience that is quite different in character.
[22] 33:40 in the Quran: Muhammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allah and last of the prophets. And ever is Allah, of all things, Knowing.
[23] “Vägmärken”, his mystical writings, were published after his death. A death by assassination which he predicted: “I believe that we should die with decency so that at least decency will survive. I have watched the others: Now I am the victim, strapped fast to the altar for sacrifice. Do I fear a compulsion in me to be so destroyed? Do not seek death. Death will find you. But seek the road which makes death a fulfilment. The road, you shall follow it. The fun, you shall forget it. The cup, you shall empty it. The pain, you shall conceal it. The truth, you shall be told it. The end, you shall endure it.”
[24] Merton was influenced by the world view of James Fenimore Cooper. This American writer viewed the world in extreme terms through a lens of “proximate utopia” and “proximate anti-utopia”. That said these two terms are less than profound. Most religions are based on systems of duality, including Christianity. Cooper’s writing is based on the distinctions between the sacred and the profane.
[25] “Christian tradition” because many mainstream Christians might regard his approach as heretical, and indeed he himself does not claim to be particularly “Christian”.
[26] Luke 8:43-48 King James Version: And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.