Peter Fitch, St. Croix Vineyard Sunday, January 29, 2017 Mystical Touch Peter Fitch, St. Croix Vineyard Sunday, January 29, 2017

Need to move beyond words Orthodox Church-–icons Roman Catholic Church—the Mass Protestantism—sermons The Vineyard—intimate worship, prayer Very important to move beyond mere intellectual assent Need to recover a sense of mystery in faith, need to be transformed by the inner Presence of God

Richard Rohr: Mystical Experience Tuesday, January 24, 2017 In the early 1960s, Jesuit Karl Rahner (1904-1984) stated that if Western Christianity did not rediscover its mystical foundations, we might as well close the doors of the churches because we had lost the primary reason for our existence. Now don’t let the word “mystic” scare you. It simply means one who has moved from mere belief systems or belonging systems to actual inner experience. All spiritual traditions at their mature levels agree that such a movement is possible, desirable, and even available to everyone.

Richard Rohr Until someone has had some level of inner religious experience, there is no point in asking them to follow the ethical ideals of Jesus or to really understand Christian doctrines beyond the formulaic level. In fact, moral mandates and doctrinal affirmations only become the source of deeper anxiety and more contentiousness! And then that very anxiety will usually take the form of denial, pretension, and projection of our evil elsewhere.

Richard Rohr You quite simply don’t have the power to obey the law or follow any ideal—such as loving others, forgiving enemies, nonviolence, or humble use of power—except in and through union with God. Nor do doctrines like the Trinity, the Real Presence, salvation, or the mystery of Incarnation have any meaning that actually changes your life. They are merely books on shelves. Without some inner experience of the Divine, what Bill Wilson of Alcoholics Anonymous called “a vital spiritual experience,” nothing authentically new or life- giving happens.

Now, how do you obtain this? Clues? Some say this only comes through believing the right things This may be a help but it may also be a hindrance I think it comes by doing Jesus’ teachings (whether or not you know who Jesus is) For me, it works, if you define “believe” as committed action

John 7:15-17 15 The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” 16 So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.

Mystical Experience is Participation with God I see God’s Spirit as in and through everything (God is both transcendent and immanent, Jeremiah 23) St. Paul quoted a Cretan philosopher at Athens, saying, “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28) But I think we can choose whether or not we will flow in the direction of Life If we flow with God, we sometimes have experiences that blow us out of the water . . . If we get used to flowing with Him, we sometimes experience Him deeply; we grow by faith

Ken Wilson

Can we all experience these things? We’re all different, but we can all grow in our sense of intimacy with God For many, it begins with a sense of surprise . . . God is real! It is often encouraged by praying, especially with others “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” (Matthew 18:20)

St. John of the Cross: Dark Nights The process of Interiorization, the gradual cleansing and transformation of our souls “Yet eventually, if we make it this far, we will be brought to a stable union or ‘spiritual marriage’ (the ‘unitive way’ of the perfect’) in which our whole human nature is harmoniously integrated, and we are able to enjoy a more or less continual awareness of the Trinity within while remaining attentive to creation around us . . .” Spiritual Traditions for the Contemporary Church (Maas & O’Donnell, 1990)

Paul’s Prayer in Ephesians 1 17  . . . that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.