Christian Mystics Weekly Gathering

We will meet at Bass Lake at 6:45 every Thursday.
Feel free to come early for a walk in the park.
7:00 we will start with 15 minutes of silence and prayer
7:15 song and/or scripture or texts
short discussion of these
group sharings
plans for the following weeks
Close in silent prayer
8:30 -- Adjourn

We will stick to this schedule and we won't vary for a while as we build numbers.
Look for us at the table near the lake or indoors if it is cold, dark or raining.

Christian mysticism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christian mysticism refers to the practice and experiential knowledge of deep prayer (ie. meditation, contemplation) involving the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. This approach and lifestyle is distinguished from more "mainstream" forms of Christian practice by its aim and depth of devotion. In the words of Oswald Chambers, "We receive His blessings and know His Word, but do we know Him?"[1]

Whereas Christian doctrine generally maintains that God dwells in all Christians and that they can experience God directly through belief in Jesus,[2] Christian mysticism aspires to apprehend spiritual truths inaccessible through intellectual means, typically by learning how to think like Christ. William Inge divides this scala perfectionis into three stages: the "purgative" or ascetic stage, the "illuminative" or contemplative stage, and the "unitive" stage, in which God may be beheld "face to face."[3]

In the tradition of Mystical Theology, Biblical texts are typically interpreted metaphorically, for example in Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5–7) the text, in its totality, is held to contain the way for direct union with God. Also, in the contemplative and eremitic tradition of the Carmelite "Book of the First Monks", 1 Kgs. 17:3-4 is the central Biblical text around which the work is written.

The tradition of Christian Mysticism is as old as Christianity itself. At least three texts from the New Testament set up themes that recur throughout the recorded thought of the Christian mystics. The first, Galatians 2:20, says that:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (KJV)

Another important scriptural text for Christian mysticism is 1 John 3:2:

Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

The third such text, especially important for Eastern Christian mysticism, is found in 2 Peter 1:4:

...[E]xceedingly great and precious promises [are given unto us]; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (emphasis added)

Two major themes of Christian mysticism are (1) a complete identification with or imitation of Christ, to achieve a unity of the human spirit with the spirit of God; and (2) the perfect vision of God, in which the mystic seeks to experience God "as he is," and no more "through a glass, darkly." (1 Corinthians 13:12)

For more information call 919-557-7769 (Leigh Eason) or email at walkingpath@yahoo.com