The False Shalom

Wandering monkey mind,

fleeting flighty thoughts,

rapid shallow breathing,

racing stressed heartbeats,

ever restless moving body,

the ‘shalom’ of stress.

Mindfulness of the moment,

reflection of consciousness,

deep breaths of life,

slower drumbeats of mortality,

body still, relaxed at rest,

the shalom of eternity.

Why do we live with the false shalom?

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Fifty Eight Years of a Religious Vow

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 is the day 58 years ago my dear spiritual friend and mentor, Dr Helen Rosenthal, RSJC said her first vows to enter the life of a religious. RSCJ stands for Religious of the Sacred Heart in Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish. Sister Helen, as she likes to be called, still teaches Christian Spirituality at St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida in the United States. She is 80 years old but look not a day older than 60 years. Her favourite book remains The Cloud of Unknowing.

She writes a regular blog making her one of the oldest blogger I know.

58th Anniversary of My First Vows

I remember this day so well. I had a marvelous private retreat before it and Jesus was so present to me and I kept asking Him to let me realize what I was really doing when I took my vows and consecrated my whole life to Him. As I had had all the sports for the high school and seventh and eighth grade for the whole of my second year as a novice, I was allowed to go talk to the children that afternoon. I still remember standing on a bench so they could all see me as they crowded into the locker room; they wanted to see my vow crucifix and. of course, they had been present that morning when we were given our black veils. It was the octave of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and I had several days before going back to St. Louis to begin my active life as a religious.

I am privileged to have her for my spiritual friend, mentor and prayer partner. She is always an inspiration for me in her devotion to Jesus and her love for her fellow man and woman. Helen, you are truely the salt and light.

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The Long on North Island

Memories of New Zealand #5: New Friend, New Country


One of the highlight of my New Zealand trip is to meet my blogger and spiritual friend, Pastor Paul Long of Kelston Community Church in Auckland. Paul blogs at Paul Long's Rambling. It is a wonder of the Internet that though we have been friends for many years( even before he left Malaysia), we have never met in person before! So I have really been looking forward to meet my digital friend in the flesh.

I really appreciate Paul taking a drive from the east side of Auckland to where I was staying on the North Shore on an early Saturday morning. It was a great time of fellowship and we hit it off at once. No sense of awkwardness. It is wonderful to be in the company of a kindred spirit. He is very enthusiastic about his calling as a pastor to this church. He shared his hopes and aspirations for this community of faith that he is shepherding. I came away from that short time of fellowship with the impression that if I want anyone to be my pastor, Paul Long will be the one. The Kelston Community Church is blessed to have him as their pastor.

Here's what he writes about me:

...I had a nice though short visit with Dr. Alex last week (he was in Auckland for a couple of days on the way to Ozland). Now I know another reason why he is into spiritual formation ... he can really draw all kinds of stuff out of me! (like a therapist) LOL!! Positive stuff lah ... no laments! And he gave me a stack of "Spiritual Formation the Run". Will enjoy giving them away soon!!

Thanks, Paul for being my spiritual friend and my online community of faith. Good to meet you.

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Spiritual Direction Videos

Here are some links to short videos about spiritual direction from Spiritual Directors International.

Launched October 2009

To learn from The Rev. Mary Earle, Episcopal, Texas

To learn from Joseph Tetlow, SJ, Roman Catholic, Texas

Launched September 2009

To learn from the video of Rabbi Ted Falcon, Jewish, Washington

Launched August 2009

To learn from video of Kristen Hobby, Uniting Church of Australia, Melbourne, Australia.

To learn from video of Therese Taylor-Stinson, Presbyterian, Washington, DC area

To learn from video of Pegge Bernecker, How to find a spiritual director, step-by-step

Launched July 15

To learn from video of Jamal Rahman, Sufi Muslim, Washington

To learn from video of Janet Ruffing, RSM, Roman Catholic, New York

Launched July 1, 2009

To learn from Ron Rolheiser, OMI, Roman Catholic, Texas

To learn from Mary Ann Scofield, RSM, Roman Catholic, California

Henri Nouwen on Spiritual Direction

This book was published in 2006 and was written by Michael J. Christensen and Rebbecca J. Laird. Christensen is the director of the Doctor of Ministry program in Drew University and Laird is a spiritual director and associate pastor for Spiritual Development at Central Presbyterian Church in Summit, New Jersey. Christensen took a course with Henri Nouwen at Yale Divinity School.

Henri J.M. Nouwen (1932-1996) is a well known spiritual writer. He never did consider himself a spiritual director though he did receive and gave spiritual direction. He considered himself more as a spiritual companion. Nouwen did not write much on spiritual direction and spiritual formation. The core of his spiritual writing were on the heart, Word and church and was more about his inner own conversations, even though it continues to offer spiritual guidance to many of his readers.

In this book, the authors, drawing from both published and unpublished writings of Henri Nouwen set him up as a spiritual director. The chapters are designed in such a way that the reader is being engaged with a one way spiritual direction with Henri Nouwen. The chapters deals with questions that generally asked in spiritual direction such as "who am I?" and "who is God to me?" The answers are drawn from Nouwen's writings. Sometimes reading a passage may be jarring because the personal pronoun "I" is used. One expect to look up to see Nouwen sitting across the table!

The danger of such a book is that it will be inevitable that some of the authors' biasness and personal values be embedded in the choice and paraphrase of Nouwen's writings. Nevertheless it is a good book to read as it is the closest we can get to having Henri Nouwen as our spiritual director.

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Reading about Spiritual Direction

Some good books...

1. Frederick von Hugel, Letters to a Niece (1928).

2. Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship (twelfth century, available in a 1974 translation by Mary Eugenia Laker, S. S. N. D.)

3. Francis de Sales (1567-1622, Catholic), Introduction to the Devout Life and Letters of Spiritual Direction (1988 translation by Peronne Marie Thibert)

4. Samuel Rutherford (a seventeenth-century Scottish pastor), Letters (available in an 1891 edition)

5. Kenneth Leech, Soul Friend

6. Martin Thornton, Spiritual Direction (1984)

7. Thomas Merton, Spiritual Direction and Meditation (1960)

8. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (a French Jesuit), The Divine Milieu (1960)

9. Gerald May (a psychiatrist who "knows the difference between psychology and spirituality and disperses some of the fog that confuses them"), Care of Mind/Care of Spirit (1982)

10. Jerome Heufelder and Mary Coelho, editors, Writing on Spiritual Direction by Great Christian Masters (1982)

11. Francis W. Vanderwall, S. J., Spiritual Direction: An Invitation to Abundant Life (1981)

12. Douglas V. Steere (a Quaker), Together in Solitude

13. Ralph Harper, On Presence (1991)

14. Martin Luther, Letters of Spiritual Counsel (translated in a 1955 by Theodore Tappert)

A more extensive bibliography on spiritual direction is available at http://www.pastornet.net.au/jmm/spir/spir0015.htm.

Reading about Spiritual Direction

Some good books...

1. Frederick von Hugel, Letters to a Niece (1928).

2. Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship (twelfth century, available in a 1974 translation by Mary Eugenia Laker, S. S. N. D.)

3. Francis de Sales (1567-1622, Catholic), Introduction to the Devout Life and Letters of Spiritual Direction (1988 translation by Peronne Marie Thibert)

4. Samuel Rutherford (a seventeenth-century Scottish pastor), Letters (available in an 1891 edition)

5. Kenneth Leech, Soul Friend

6. Martin Thornton, Spiritual Direction (1984)

7. Thomas Merton, Spiritual Direction and Meditation (1960)

8. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (a French Jesuit), The Divine Milieu (1960)

9. Gerald May (a psychiatrist who "knows the difference between psychology and spirituality and disperses some of the fog that confuses them"), Care of Mind/Care of Spirit (1982)

10. Jerome Heufelder and Mary Coelho, editors, Writing on Spiritual Direction by Great Christian Masters (1982)

11. Francis W. Vanderwall, S. J., Spiritual Direction: An Invitation to Abundant Life (1981)

12. Douglas V. Steere (a Quaker), Together in Solitude

13. Ralph Harper, On Presence (1991)

14. Martin Luther, Letters of Spiritual Counsel (translated in a 1955 by Theodore Tappert)

A more extensive bibliography on spiritual direction is available at http://www.pastornet.net.au/jmm/spir/spir0015.htm.

Trained and Untrained Spiritual Directors

We are not alone in this work of the re-formation of the heart. It is imperative for us to help each other in every way we can. And in our day, the desperate need is for the emergence of a massive spiritual army of trained spiritual directors who can lovingly come alongside precious people and help them discern how to walk by faith in the circumstances of their own lives.

Please note that I said "trained" spiritual directors and not "certified" spiritual directors.

There is a genuinely bad idea circulating these days that if we take a certain number of courses and read a certain number of books and receive a certain kind of certification, we will be ready to be spiritual directors. I'm sorry; I really do wish it were that simple. But no, we are here talking about life training. And it is only by life training that we will see the development of a certain kind of life, a life of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is this quality of life—the ability to forgive when it is painful, the yearning for prayer—that we are looking for in trained spiritual directors.

Richard Foster

Spiritual Formation Agenda

Trained and Untrained Spiritual Directors

We are not alone in this work of the re-formation of the heart. It is imperative for us to help each other in every way we can. And in our day, the desperate need is for the emergence of a massive spiritual army of trained spiritual directors who can lovingly come alongside precious people and help them discern how to walk by faith in the circumstances of their own lives.

Please note that I said "trained" spiritual directors and not "certified" spiritual directors.

There is a genuinely bad idea circulating these days that if we take a certain number of courses and read a certain number of books and receive a certain kind of certification, we will be ready to be spiritual directors. I'm sorry; I really do wish it were that simple. But no, we are here talking about life training. And it is only by life training that we will see the development of a certain kind of life, a life of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is this quality of life—the ability to forgive when it is painful, the yearning for prayer—that we are looking for in trained spiritual directors.

Richard Foster

Spiritual Formation Agenda

Richard Foster on Spiritual Director

What Is a Spiritual Director?

Richard Foster | posted 2/04/2009 08:52AM

What is spiritual director?

1. A person who has a continuing hunger for intimacy with God.

2. A person who has an ability to forgive others at great personal loss.

3. A person who has a lively sense that God alone can satisfy the longings of the human heart.

4. A person who has a deep satisfaction in prayer.

5. A person who has a realistic assessment of personal abilities and limitations.

6. A person who has a fundamental freedom from boasting about spiritual accomplishments.

7. A person who has a demonstrated ability to live out the demands of life patiently and wisely.

Richard Foster on Spiritual Director

What Is a Spiritual Director?

Richard Foster | posted 2/04/2009 08:52AM

What is spiritual director?

1. A person who has a continuing hunger for intimacy with God.

2. A person who has an ability to forgive others at great personal loss.

3. A person who has a lively sense that God alone can satisfy the longings of the human heart.

4. A person who has a deep satisfaction in prayer.

5. A person who has a realistic assessment of personal abilities and limitations.

6. A person who has a fundamental freedom from boasting about spiritual accomplishments.

7. A person who has a demonstrated ability to live out the demands of life patiently and wisely.

Richard Foster on Spiritual Direction

What Is Spiritual Direction?

Richard Foster | posted 2/04/2009 08:50AM

What is spiritual direction?

1. Spiritual direction is an interpersonal relationship in which we learn how to grow, live, and love in the spiritual life.

2. Spiritual direction involves a process through which one person helps another person understand what God is doing and saying.

3. Discernment is a crucial gift in the work of spiritual direction.

4. In spiritual direction there is absolutely no domination or control.

5. The spiritual director/mentor/pastor guides another in spiritual things through the spiritual world by spiritual means.

6. God has ordained that there be spiritual directors/mentors/pastors among his people. This is the structure of love in practice.

7. Supremely, spiritual directors/mentors/pastors are persons who have a sense of being "established" in God. Otherwise they are too dangerous to be allowed into the soul space of others.

Richard Foster on Spiritual Direction

What Is Spiritual Direction?

Richard Foster | posted 2/04/2009 08:50AM

What is spiritual direction?

1. Spiritual direction is an interpersonal relationship in which we learn how to grow, live, and love in the spiritual life.

2. Spiritual direction involves a process through which one person helps another person understand what God is doing and saying.

3. Discernment is a crucial gift in the work of spiritual direction.

4. In spiritual direction there is absolutely no domination or control.

5. The spiritual director/mentor/pastor guides another in spiritual things through the spiritual world by spiritual means.

6. God has ordained that there be spiritual directors/mentors/pastors among his people. This is the structure of love in practice.

7. Supremely, spiritual directors/mentors/pastors are persons who have a sense of being "established" in God. Otherwise they are too dangerous to be allowed into the soul space of others.

An Invitation to a Retreat (2)

It is more than rest that Jesus receives in his retreats. He also gets wisdom. “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles…”(Luke 6:12-13). These twelve men will transform the world and brings God’s plan of redemption to another level. The wisdom comes from being in the presence of God. To achieve this type of wisdom needs trust.

For us, a spiritual retreat requires trust in the Holy Spirit. A retreat is not like a church camp, a conference or a vacation- where activities may be planned in advance and we know the agenda (mostly to have a good time, hopefully to learn something). In a retreat, we do not know what God has in store for us, but we are willing to take the risk to find out. We participate in confidence that the Holy Spirit is entirely trustworthy and will never lead us to harm.

There is a need for us to persist in Scripture reading, journal and prayer even though the silence and solitude frightens us. In a group retreat, there is a strong temptation to flee the presence of God into the company of friends where it is safe and comfortable. To engage in idle group gossip takes our attention from having to be silent before the Lord, and the discomfort of the work of the Holy Spirit on our souls. However it is to our good that we persist. The Psalmist says,

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. (Psalm 91:1-4)

It is in a spiritual retreat that you have the time and opportunity to discover who you are, and to whom do you belong. That is wisdom indeed.

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An Invitation to a Retreat (2)

It is more than rest that Jesus receives in his retreats. He also gets wisdom. “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles…”(Luke 6:12-13). These twelve men will transform the world and brings God’s plan of redemption to another level. The wisdom comes from being in the presence of God. To achieve this type of wisdom needs trust.

For us, a spiritual retreat requires trust in the Holy Spirit. A retreat is not like a church camp, a conference or a vacation- where activities may be planned in advance and we know the agenda (mostly to have a good time, hopefully to learn something). In a retreat, we do not know what God has in store for us, but we are willing to take the risk to find out. We participate in confidence that the Holy Spirit is entirely trustworthy and will never lead us to harm.

There is a need for us to persist in Scripture reading, journal and prayer even though the silence and solitude frightens us. In a group retreat, there is a strong temptation to flee the presence of God into the company of friends where it is safe and comfortable. To engage in idle group gossip takes our attention from having to be silent before the Lord, and the discomfort of the work of the Holy Spirit on our souls. However it is to our good that we persist. The Psalmist says,

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. (Psalm 91:1-4)

It is in a spiritual retreat that you have the time and opportunity to discover who you are, and to whom do you belong. That is wisdom indeed.

.

Invitation to a Retreat (1)

There must be times in your life that you yearn for more of God than your schedule will allow. We all have. We are tired, stressed by our jobs, crowded by friends and burdened by obligations. We have abundant life but are too busy for it! Even good obligations and commitments can turn toxic to our soul. Christian author, Madeleine L’Engle resonates within us when she writes in A Circle of Quiet that “(e)very so often I need a OUT; something will throw me into total disproportion, and I have to get away from everyone- away from all those people I love most in the world-in order to regain a sense of proportion.” However this is more than just a need to get away. There is also a need to get to (somewhere). And in our case, the need is to get to the presence of God. In other words, we need to go to a spiritual retreat.

“Spiritual retreat,” explains Emilie Griffin in Wilderness Time, “is simply a matter of going into a separate place to seek Christian growth in a disciplined way. Retreat offers us the grace to be ourselves in God’s presence without self-consciousness, without masquerade. Retreat provides the chance to spend time generously in the presence of God. In such time, God helps us to empty ourselves of cares and anxieties, to be filled with wisdom that restores us.”

Jesus himself sought times of quiet and solitude. The evangelist Mark tells us in middle of a busy schedule, “(v)ery early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"” (Mark 1:35-37). This is not an isolated incident for Jesus. After his miraculous feeding of the five thousand, “(i)mmediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray” (Mark 6:56-46).

The evangelist Matthew too made a similar observation of Jesus: “After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.” (Matthew 14:23). Luke too remarks on this peculiar characteristic of Jesus: “Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:15-16). It appears that the more his fame spreads, the more he is in demand as a teacher and healer, the more Jesus looks for a quiet place, to be away from the crowd that he serves. And what does he do when he is alone? He prays. He commune with his Father. As soldiers in battle in the frontline need to be rotated back to the rear to rest or team sportspersons have time out, Jesus after every spiritual battle needs a retreat; a retreat, not in the sense of a setback but in the concept of a timeout. It is in his Father that Jesus finds rest.

.

Invitation to a Retreat (1)

There must be times in your life that you yearn for more of God than your schedule will allow. We all have. We are tired, stressed by our jobs, crowded by friends and burdened by obligations. We have abundant life but are too busy for it! Even good obligations and commitments can turn toxic to our soul. Christian author, Madeleine L’Engle resonates within us when she writes in A Circle of Quiet that “(e)very so often I need a OUT; something will throw me into total disproportion, and I have to get away from everyone- away from all those people I love most in the world-in order to regain a sense of proportion.” However this is more than just a need to get away. There is also a need to get to (somewhere). And in our case, the need is to get to the presence of God. In other words, we need to go to a spiritual retreat.

“Spiritual retreat,” explains Emilie Griffin in Wilderness Time, “is simply a matter of going into a separate place to seek Christian growth in a disciplined way. Retreat offers us the grace to be ourselves in God’s presence without self-consciousness, without masquerade. Retreat provides the chance to spend time generously in the presence of God. In such time, God helps us to empty ourselves of cares and anxieties, to be filled with wisdom that restores us.”

Jesus himself sought times of quiet and solitude. The evangelist Mark tells us in middle of a busy schedule, “(v)ery early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"” (Mark 1:35-37). This is not an isolated incident for Jesus. After his miraculous feeding of the five thousand, “(i)mmediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray” (Mark 6:56-46).

The evangelist Matthew too made a similar observation of Jesus: “After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.” (Matthew 14:23). Luke too remarks on this peculiar characteristic of Jesus: “Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:15-16). It appears that the more his fame spreads, the more he is in demand as a teacher and healer, the more Jesus looks for a quiet place, to be away from the crowd that he serves. And what does he do when he is alone? He prays. He commune with his Father. As soldiers in battle in the frontline need to be rotated back to the rear to rest or team sportspersons have time out, Jesus after every spiritual battle needs a retreat; a retreat, not in the sense of a setback but in the concept of a timeout. It is in his Father that Jesus finds rest.

.

The God of Intimacy and Action

Campolo, Tony & Darling, Mary Albert. 2007. The God of Intimacy and Action: Reconnecting Ancient Spiritual Practices, Evangelism, and Justice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Christian activist, Tony Campolo, who is also professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University in the United States, has teamed up with Mary Albert Darling, a spiritual director from the Ignatian tradition to produce a book on “mystical Christianity.” Darling is the associate professor of communication at Spring Arbor University and is a Protestant who is well versed in Roman Catholic mystic tradition.

They define “mystic Christianity” as a “holistic Christianity” which includes mystical spirituality, evangelism and social justice (p.xiv). A mystic as defined as “one who experiences God in transrational and nonempirical ways.” (p.4). What this means is that all Christians are mystics as they will have personal experiences of an encounter with God. Campolo highlights five types of mystical experiences:
1. New insights
2. I-Thou relationships
3. Heightened awareness
4. Conversion experiences
5. Breakthrough experiences (p.4-12)

He takes care to compare these with what William James described in his book, The Varieties of Religious Experience. While William James’ research was not in a Christian context, there are enough similarities to accept Campolo’s descriptions.

The main thesis that Campolo and Darling proposes is that a Spirit-filled Christians who have had mystic spiritual experiences will subsequently be concerned for evangelism and social justice. Campolo writes, “I believe there are four basic consequences for a sense of justice that grows from mystical unity with Christ. Each of them is essential to actualize something of the justice and social well-being that are part of what the Bible calls the Kingdom of God. They are
1. An awareness that Christ is in the poor and oppressed, waiting to be loved and served
2. A call to challenged institutionalized religion
3. An understanding of the importance of entering into one another’s sufferings
4. A plan for the world as it should be” (p.41)

This thesis is not new. Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen were the latest in the long line of Christian mystics who propose such a thesis. Merton’s activism comes from his time of contemplation in a monastery and Nouwen from his contemplative experience in the academia. Merton’s activism were in the political and cultural arena while Nouwen were in the handicap and socially deprived.

It is a common misconception that contemplatives are too otherworldly to be of any earthly use. A study of the life of Gregory the Great, Teresa of Avila and Catherine of Siena is enough to convince anyone that contemplatives are also social activists. What is new in this thesis is that two Protestants, Campolo and Darling propose it. What is also interesting is that social activist Campolo has to draw on the experience of Darling to support his concept of “mystical Christianity.” To develop or experience a mystical Christian life, Darling suggests the practice of the following ‘ancient’ spiritual disciplines
1. The prayer of examen
2. lectio divina
3. Centering prayer

will transform Christians into becoming more aware of the need for evangelism and to act for social justice. This is an important point because without a depth in God, our social activism will be mere ‘good works’. Thomas Merton explains it in Contemplation in a World of Action as thus, “He who attempts to act and do things for others or for the world without deepening is own self-understanding, freedom, integrity and capacity to love, will not have anything to give others. He will communicate to them nothing but the contagion of his own obsessions, his aggressiveness, his ego-centered ambitions, his delusions about ends and means, his doctrinaire prejudices and ideas.”

This is a good book in which the interconnectiveness of Christian spirituality and practices, evangelism and activism for social justice are revealed as essential for a holistic Christian life.

.

The God of Intimacy and Action

Campolo, Tony & Darling, Mary Albert. 2007. The God of Intimacy and Action: Reconnecting Ancient Spiritual Practices, Evangelism, and Justice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Christian activist, Tony Campolo, who is also professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University in the United States, has teamed up with Mary Albert Darling, a spiritual director from the Ignatian tradition to produce a book on “mystical Christianity.” Darling is the associate professor of communication at Spring Arbor University and is a Protestant who is well versed in Roman Catholic mystic tradition.

They define “mystic Christianity” as a “holistic Christianity” which includes mystical spirituality, evangelism and social justice (p.xiv). A mystic as defined as “one who experiences God in transrational and nonempirical ways.” (p.4). What this means is that all Christians are mystics as they will have personal experiences of an encounter with God. Campolo highlights five types of mystical experiences:
1. New insights
2. I-Thou relationships
3. Heightened awareness
4. Conversion experiences
5. Breakthrough experiences (p.4-12)

He takes care to compare these with what William James described in his book, The Varieties of Religious Experience. While William James’ research was not in a Christian context, there are enough similarities to accept Campolo’s descriptions.

The main thesis that Campolo and Darling proposes is that a Spirit-filled Christians who have had mystic spiritual experiences will subsequently be concerned for evangelism and social justice. Campolo writes, “I believe there are four basic consequences for a sense of justice that grows from mystical unity with Christ. Each of them is essential to actualize something of the justice and social well-being that are part of what the Bible calls the Kingdom of God. They are
1. An awareness that Christ is in the poor and oppressed, waiting to be loved and served
2. A call to challenged institutionalized religion
3. An understanding of the importance of entering into one another’s sufferings
4. A plan for the world as it should be” (p.41)

This thesis is not new. Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen were the latest in the long line of Christian mystics who propose such a thesis. Merton’s activism comes from his time of contemplation in a monastery and Nouwen from his contemplative experience in the academia. Merton’s activism were in the political and cultural arena while Nouwen were in the handicap and socially deprived.

It is a common misconception that contemplatives are too otherworldly to be of any earthly use. A study of the life of Gregory the Great, Teresa of Avila and Catherine of Siena is enough to convince anyone that contemplatives are also social activists. What is new in this thesis is that two Protestants, Campolo and Darling propose it. What is also interesting is that social activist Campolo has to draw on the experience of Darling to support his concept of “mystical Christianity.” To develop or experience a mystical Christian life, Darling suggests the practice of the following ‘ancient’ spiritual disciplines
1. The prayer of examen
2. lectio divina
3. Centering prayer

will transform Christians into becoming more aware of the need for evangelism and to act for social justice. This is an important point because without a depth in God, our social activism will be mere ‘good works’. Thomas Merton explains it in Contemplation in a World of Action as thus, “He who attempts to act and do things for others or for the world without deepening is own self-understanding, freedom, integrity and capacity to love, will not have anything to give others. He will communicate to them nothing but the contagion of his own obsessions, his aggressiveness, his ego-centered ambitions, his delusions about ends and means, his doctrinaire prejudices and ideas.”

This is a good book in which the interconnectiveness of Christian spirituality and practices, evangelism and activism for social justice are revealed as essential for a holistic Christian life.

.

A Journey of Discernment

Dr. Geoff Pound was the former Principal of Whitley College, the Baptist College of Victoria and is now residing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He has written an online devotional book:

Making Life Decisions: Journey of Discernment
Forty Individual Reflections
with
Seven Group Studies
A Process of Discernment Guided by Down-to-Earth Biblical Principles

This free Online Book can be accessed here

He is also a prolific blogger and here are some of his other blogs

THEOLOGIANS WITHOUT BORDERS

EXPERIENCING THE EMIRATES

GEOFF POUND.COM

DISCERNMENT RESOURCES

This Day With F W Boreham

New F W Boreham Books

THE OFFICIAL F W BOREHAM BLOG SITE

Reviewing Books and Movies

FUJAIRAH IN FOCUS

The Best Stories of F W Boreham

Stories For Speakers And Writers

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