The View Up Here

From a great article on what it means to be a mystic  (all emphasis mine) : What makes a mystic, well, “mystical”? Mystic and related words come from the Greek language — from the same word which gives us mystery and even sacraments. But the Greek root word, mueo, also gives us the English word mute. So a mystic is someone who enters the mystery of God. And a mystic also, and therefore, is someone whose spirituality is muted (in other words, profoundly silent) — which is to say it cannot even be put into words. It’s the silence of a monastery, understood not merely as the absence of sound (or thoughts, or words), but as an opening that allows us to discern the quiet presence of God.  A mystic, in the broadest and m[o]st humble sense of the word, is simply someone whose relationship with God is primarily contemplative. Someone who prays, and who prays silently, opening the heart to the presence of God , which cannot ever be fully put into words.  The author wisely...

So earlier this week, I deactivated my Facebook account and I canceled Netflix. I am purposefully simplifying my life, scaling down the distraction-on-demand outlets that only drag me down and ruin my peace. Although I am currently on the couch with a stomach bug, when I am at last better and able to stand up without falling over, I will get a library card and find myself some decent (not indecent or lewd or violent or overly political) fiction to read. I have plenty of books on theology, saints, Benedictine life, etc. here, but sometimes you know, you just want something lighter and fluffier.* Thus far I am enjoying a life less plugged in. How can we simplify our lives? Take stock of how you spend your time and energy, and realize where your time and energy "leaks" out. I'm not talking about normal and healthy R&R, I mean the obsessive quality that certain distraction-on-demand venues elicit in us.  To live by chronos is to die an agonizing death where ever...

“No one has a greater desire than I for that secure and tranquil life dedicated wholly to contemplation. There is nothing better, nothing more enjoyable to be separated from all turmoil, in order to immerse oneself profoundly in the Divine Treasure.” (St. Augustine)