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...

Today the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of All Souls, when we remember our ancestors and all loved ones who have passed away. Not only do we remember them, we pray for them. Many other Christian churches do not pray for the dead, so what's up, Cat'lics?  Check out Fr. Mike Schmitz's explanation, then I'll add some thoughts: Yesterday, we celebrated the Feast of All Saints, when we take time to rejoice in the great "cloud of witnesses" who have gone before, leaving us examples of living discipleship, often with great teachings and music. These saints are now in heaven, praying for us. So everyone's praying for everyone. We're all connected through and in the Body of Christ. Just as we ask for prayer from each other, we ask the saints to pray for us. Another point that Fr. Mike references is that we should NOT EVER try to talk to the dead. That is a big no-no.  Consider this: 1. We are called to trust implicitly in God's mercy and love...

The journey of discerning God's will for me continues.  I still feel the draw to contemplative life, but I question it at the same time. Why? For one thing, I won't know until I actually am able to live the life in some kind of trial/live-in experience. There's still much about this journey that I'm not clear on because I just don't have enough first hand information, and that takes time. I know I want to be a consecrated religious, a little spouse of Jesus. That's about all I know for sure. Carmelite? Love love love Carmelite spirituality. Cloister? Not so sure. Franciscan? Love love love Franciscan spirituality. Active apostolate? Not so sure. I'm starting to understand on some level that what I desire is balance: contemplative and active apostolates in fruitful harmony.  "St. Francis Starry Night" by Sue Betanzos See (and buy) more of this artist's work here: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/sue-betanzos.html And I feel that a...

I've been writing a lot of spiritual and religiously themed posts, so I thought I'd update some of what's going on with me personally. I've returned to working on the screenplay that was once called 'Eden.' I have to rename it because some kind of twaddle just came out with the same moniker. I'm doing some heavy Act II restructuring now, which is my least favorite thing about writing a screenplay, but it's going pretty well so far. I've also not forgotten about the project I'd started researching last year on Mary Magdalene. I'm not sure what I'm doing with that; it's still in a very nascent stage. I was also thinking of looking at other women in Yeshua's ministry and life, but we'll see how the Spirit leads me on that one. People keep asking me when Black Doves will be released, and unfortunately I have to keep saying the same thing: I don't know. It's in the pipeline at Powys and it'll come out when it'...