Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Contemplative
A Question for Your Advent Reflection: What Do We Need to Do to Make Mysticism Mainstream?

A Question for Your Advent Reflection: What Do We Need to Do to Make Mysticism Mainstream?

Last updated on: December 1, 2019 at 3:48 pm by Carl "Skye" McColman

A Question for Your Advent Reflection: What Do We Need to Do to Make Mysticism Mainstream? 2019-12-01T15:12:15-04:00 Carl "Skye" McColman

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It’s the first Sunday of Advent. So liturgically speaking, it’s a new church year. Happy new year!

In the spirit of making a new year’s resolution, I’d like a pose a question for discernment. I don’t have the answer to this question, certainly not all the answers. This is question that I think everyone who is drawn to contemplation and mysticism needs to be working on, together. The way we answer this question will give us insight into the “new year’s resolutions” we need to be making, as Christian contemplatives.

The question is this: What do we need to do, in both large and small ways, to make mysticism a mainstream part of the Christian community?

You could frame it this way, as well: What is God’s vision for the contemplative future of Christianity? What is being asked of me (individually) and us (communally) to help the Spirit lead the people of God deeper into the mystical life?

I believe we are all called to a mystical spirituality, grounded in contemplative prayer — a spirituality grounded in the mystery of Christ, in the mystery of God-who-is-Love.

But many Christians have never heard of topics like mysticism or contemplation; others mistakenly assume these dimensions of the Christian life are dangerous or “foreign” (e.g., equating mysticism with Zen); while others think such “advanced” spirituality only should be practiced by priests or monks or nuns.

In other words, mysticism, at least for many Christians, is most definitely not mainstream.

If you want any evidence of this, visit a large church that hosts a centering prayer group. A thousand people may show up to mass or service on Sunday morning, but only 10 or 15 (if they’re lucky) make it to centering prayer on Wednesday night. In other words, the contemplative ministry serves only about 1% of the congregation.

Now, I’m not suggesting that every last follower of Jesus Christ needs some sort of daily mindfulness practice (although to my mind this wouldn’t be a bad thing). We are all called to unique forms and expressions of spirituality, and sitting in silence for twenty minutes will probably always appeal to just a minority of the faithful.

But contemplative spirituality involves more than just type of silent prayer:

It includes “embodied” types of prayer, like walking a labyrinth or yoga;
It includes contemplative approaches to mainstream practices, like lectio divina, which is contemplative Bible reading;
It includes ministries of spiritual direction or companionship, where we learn to listen for the whispers of the Holy Spirit by learning to listen to one another;
It includes contemplative art practices, like Zentangle or contemplative photography;
It includes an openness to mystery in our discernment process: seeking God’s will through listening, and wonder, and unknowing.

Bringing mysticism back into the mainstream does not mean that all the churches will suddenly turn into meditation halls filled with levitating saints (ha!). But I believe it does mean that Christianity could shed its current unhappy public image as a religion that says “no!” to spirituality — which leads some people to be “mystical but not religious.”

Making mysticism mainstream means envisioning, and working to create, Christianity as a faith-filled community of people who listen, who love, who wonder, who trust, and who remain safe even when faced with darkness and unknowing, paradox and ambiguity, suffering and silence.

And I believe, along with Karl Rahner, that the future of Christianity depends on this.

"The Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist."
Karl Rahner
What are you doing now to become a "Christian of the future"?

— Carl McColman (@CarlMcColman) July 5, 2016

Among Catholics, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) has become an important and successful ministry because we intuitively recognize that becoming a Christian — a follower of Jesus Christ — involves more than just filling out some paperwork. No offense to my evangelical friends, but embracing a Christ-centered heart involves a lot more than just making an on-the-spot decision in response to a preacher’s impassioned altar-call. Following Jesus Christ, as a lifelong commitment, requires a period of formation culminating in a rite of initiation.

So here is my question: how do we form new contemplatives — not on the margins of the church (like that Wednesday night centering prayer group, wonderful though it may be), but in the mainstream? And once someone is formed (or, at least begins to be formed) as a person of deep silence and contemplative spirituality, how are they initiated into that dimension of Christian spirituality?

And what difference will it make, not only in their lives, but in the shared life of their community of faith?

Lots of questions, and I freely admit I have no answers (although I do have a few ideas, which perhaps we need to explore together on this blog and elsewhere in the months and years to come). But perhaps you have an idea or two, along these lines, that you would like to share?

If so, please do so — either via social media or as a comment to this blog post. Thank you for your feedback.

Enjoy reading this blog?
Click here to become a patron.

Etc.

Previous Post

November 28, 2019

My Christmas Recommendations for 2019: Books to Give to the Contemplatives You Love

Next Post

December 2, 2019 Poetry, Meditations, and Contemplative Encouragement (the Perks of Being a Patron)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Activism Announcements Art Books Catholicism Celtic Christianity Christian mysticism Christianity Contemplation Current events Etc. Family humor interfaith dialogue Interfaith Wisdom Interspirituality Lay Cistercians Living the Faith Meditation movies Mysticism Mystics nature Poetry Reviews Scripture silence Spirituality Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month February 2025 January 2025 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 August 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 May 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 March 2012 December 2011 September 2011 October 2010 August 2010 March 2010 September 2009 July 2008 January 2008 December 2007 September 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Solomon Peter Paul Jesus

Support this
Column