I end my recent series of posts on Frederick Bauerschmidt’s book “Why the Mystics Matter Now” by discussing what is maybe the most difficult teacher we face: Death. Perhaps because of the fairly early death of my mom when I was 14, this is a topic that has greatly troubled me personally. It is a topic that has caused me great anxiety, possibly being the core psychological insecurity behind much of my religious and spiritual quest.

I find in Bauerschmidt’s writing the best portray of my personal feelings toward death that I have ever read before. He writes:

“Perhaps. . . the fundamental human desire. . . [is] to in some way to evade that which is most certain about our lives: the fact that they will end. . . But why would this be a difficult thought to face? Perhaps it is because death involves a massive ‘undoing’ of the self. Death involves a ‘dispiriting’ and decomposition of the body in which the fundamental structures of our lives as living beings break down. It severs us from those human ties – parenthood, friendship, vocation – that gives us our identity. Our own death is unthinkable because it is unraveling of the ‘I’ that thinks. . . The fragility of life makes death a constant possibility that other things are not. . . Perhaps death is unthinkable because it would force us to think of ourselves as ultimately, finally, completely without control.”

Continue reading →

“Life is difficult.” (M. Scott Peck)

Most people can at least partly resonate with Peck’s characterization of the human experience. There is no doubt that life can be filled, at least at times, by suffering. Indeed, almost half of the adults in the United States will meet the criteria for a mental illness at some point in their lives. For these individuals, mental illness often is the most common thread that ties together daily experience. And, of course, the effects of mental illness do not stop with the ones afflicted. Mental illness has a major impact on the loved ones of those who are diagnosed as well.

The kind of “unhappiness” that comes with mental illness is the subject of one of the chapters of the book by Frederick Bauerschmidt that I have been discussing in recent posts called “Why the Mystics Matter Now.” In this post, I reflect on the applications of Christian mysticism made in this chapter to the experience of mental illness.

St. Augustine sometimes wrote as someone who understood mental illness from the inside. In his “Confessions,” Augustine writes of his younger self:

“I had become to myself a vast problem. . . I found myself heavily weighed down by a sense of being tired of living and scared of dying. . . I had become to myself a place of unhappiness in which I could not bear to be; but I could not escape from myself.”

This sense of frustration with one’s self, feeling that one is a “vast problem” from which one cannot “escape” provides an insightful analysis of the experience of mental illness.

Continue reading →

“Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in my dreams.” (Fyodor Doestoevsky)

It seems that many people in our culture have difficulties with love, particularly in close relationships. People increasingly seem to seek and expect an almost fairytale kind of love with a focus on pleasurable experience. However, as Doestoevsky reminds us, real love often can be “harsh and dreadful.”

Continue reading →

Detachment is a powerful psychological and spiritual process that is discussed in many modern day psychological treatments. Much of this comes from Buddhism’s huge modern influence in Psychology. Surely, there is much to gain from an understanding of detachment.

Detachment and receiving are the subject of this entry, which continues a series I started a few weeks ago on Christian mysticism, based on Frederick Bauerschmidt’s book, “Why the Mystics Matter Now.” The chapter begins with a passage from Eckhart’s “Counsels on Discernment:”

“A man ought not to have a God who is just the product of his thought, nor should he be satisfied with that, because if the thought vanished, God too would vanish. But one ought to have a God who is present, a God who is far above the notions of men and of all created things. That God does not vanish, if a man does not willfully turn away from him.”

Continue reading →

“Purity of heart is to will one thing.” (Soren Kierkegaard)

In my last post, I started a series of reflections (that I plan to continue) on mysticism, drawing largely from Frederick Bauerschmidt’s brilliant book “Why the Mystics Matter Now.” In this post, I reflect on the ideas of Ignatius of Loyola.

I long have been fascinated in the pursuit of personal goals. In fact, goals were a central component of my dissertation research. In general, it seems to me that one of the most important issues in life is to decide to what one is going to commit. There obviously are many options! However, it long has seemed to me that some goals are more likely to create a good life than others and that conflict among goals or conflict between a goal and certain  circumstances explains a lot of the problems people experience in life. Given this, and following the advice of Stephen Covey in his outstanding book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” I have spent a good amount of time in the past 20 years reflecting on the overall mission of my life and the specific goals that would contribute to this mission. The details of my commitments have changed over time, but the process of reflecting in this way has been one of the most helpful disciplines of my life.

Continue reading →

In the last few years, I’ve noticed that my interests have shifted somewhat from the purely intellectual to a greater focus on aesthetic pursuits. In my faith, this shift has led me from being virtually consumed with apologetics (an intellectual defense of the faith, which, by the way, still interests me) to greater focus on Christian spirituality, including an interest in Christian mysticism.

Recently, my friend and colleague, Dr. Ruth Schiller, lent me a book that really is astounding me at every turn: “Why the Mystics Matter Now,” by Frederick Bauerschmidt. I know I love this book because I find myself daydreaming about giving it as a present to every serious Christian that I know! Basically, the book attempts to connect some of the thinking of some of the great Christian mystics to problems commonly encountered today. I cannot remember reading something so honest, insightful, or novel. Given this, I want to begin a series of posts on each major chapter, allowing myself space to more fully reflect on the meaning and applicability of its major ideas.

Before beginning discussion of the first major topic, I want to address an introductory issue: What is mysticism? It is fascinating to me that Bauerschmidt notes that the adjective “mystical” wasn’t used widely until the 16th or 17th centuries. Before this time, the term “mystical” was used to refer to a depth of experience of God, but it was something expected of all Christians. As he states: “. . . the path of the mystical tradition is simply a way of recognizing one’s fundamental receptivity before God and of entrusting oneself to God’s Spirit.”

The first major chapter of the book is a reflection on “How to Live in a World Without God.” To help with this, Therese of Lisieux’s trials of faith are discussed. I reflect on the major ideas presented below.

An important feature of Therese’s life story is from one of a pure, almost childlike faith in God to a sincere struggle with doubt. As she one time wrote:

“He permitted my soul to be invaded by the thickest darkness, and that the thought of heaven, up until then so sweet to me, be no longer anything but the cause of struggle and torment. This trial was not to last a few days or a few weeks, it was not to be extinguished until the hour set by God Himself and this hour has not yet come. . .”

Continue reading →

Many of the modern debates about science and religion revolve around the question: Is it possible to accept both scientific and Judeo-Christian teachings? Most seem to answer with an emphatic “NO!”

I publish scientific articles and review others for publication. I teach college courses in a rigorous, scientifically minded academic department. Yet, I have not found that my understanding of science and my faith conflict. On the contrary, they seem to complement and mutually support each other. Science has encouraged me to be curious in understanding “what” and “how” things work in the natural world. My faith has helped me to understand more ultimate questions of “why” and how to live. In all of this, I have sought to be skeptical, both about scientific claims and religious / spiritual claims. Science encourages this. So does my faith. For example, demonstrating a certain kind of empiricism, Moses stated, “If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and what he says does not come true, then it is not the Lord’s message” (Deuteronomy 18:22).

Continue reading →

“The most beautiful and most profound experience is the sensation of the mystical. . . He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms – this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness.” (Albert Einstein)

Although many people regard religion as mostly centrally involving ritual and behavior, as Einstein suggests in this quotation, the foundation of religion often is experience. In fact, very dramatic experiences – visions and voices – play a central role in the origins of the great religious traditions.

For example, in perhaps the most famous of all religious experiences:

“As [Saul] neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'” (Acts 9:3-4)

Continue reading →

Most students who identify themselves in some way as “Christian” have not considered the intersection of faith and learning to a large extent. Most attend a public or secular school and do not think much about the relation of their faith to what they are learning, except in rare occasions where faith explicitly is raised for a topic of discussion, as may be the case in a religion course, or perhaps when evolutionary theory is discussed in a science course. Many of those more serious about faith will learn in a more explicitly Christian environment. These individuals often will not be exposed to or pursue the best of mainstream knowledge. Both of these approaches are fairly extreme, and leave out the possibility of an intersection between the best of faith and learning.

Cornelius Plantinga discusses how Christian students could approach education in his book “Engaging God’s World.” In general, Plantinga notes that “those who follow Christ must bring all the parts and passions of their lives – including education – under the Lordship of Christ.” In other words, Christian students ought to take seriously the idea that part of Jesus’s primary commandment is to love God with all of their minds. There may be no better place to do so than in school.

Continue reading →

“[Close relationships are] the merciless revealer, the great white searchlight turned on the darkest places of human nature.” (Katherine Anne Porter)

One of the most profound needs of a human being is to love and be loved. Most individuals long for the intimacy of a long-term romantic relationship in which love can be mutually experienced. In fact, although interest in marriage is declining in individualistic cultures such as the United States, it still is estimated that the vast majority will get married at some point in their lifetimes.

However, close relationships often do not live up to expectations. Of those who get married, at least 1/3 will get a divorce, with another 15% or so separating long-term. Marriages that stay together have at least one relatively unsatisfied partner in approximately 2/3 of cases. Statistically, then, relatively few marriages “succeed” (if one defines success as staying together and having both members of the couple reporting relative satisfaction). These statistics suggest to me that close relationships are difficult, especially in the long haul. They often reveal the best and worst of people. They require character strengths to flourish. They reveal areas of weakness that can result in long-term personal development if one is willing to use them as learning opportunities.

Given that most married couples either split or have at least one relatively unsatisfied member, it seems to me that successful couples must break social norms in how they think or act toward each other. In other words, if members of couples think or act like most in our culture, they likely will break up or be unhappy. This is a major problem, given that most learn the skills of relationships from those around them (or worse, from the media).

In fact, I think that many individuals in our culture lack knowledge of the meaning of “love.” Partly this is because the word “love” has different meanings in English. Other languages (such as Greek) have different words for different kinds of “love.” This understanding is very effectively communicated in Dr. Robert Sternberg’s triangular theory of love, which suggests that “love” might be translated into passion, intimacy, or commitment. In romantic relationships, most seem to agree that the ideal would be to have high levels of each of these kinds of love. However, for various reasons, many seem to get overly focused on one kind of love and neglect one or more of the others.

Many might assume that passion, intimacy, and commitment all go hand-in-hand. And, there is some truth to this. Couples who report one of these kinds of love are more likely to report the others. However, there are more exceptions to this than many might guess. For example, couples high in passion may lack intimacy or commitment. Couples high in commitment may lack passion or intimacy. Couples high in intimacy may lack commitment.

Given this, below I discuss passion, intimacy, and commitment separately. I hope to show how each of these kinds of love are different, and how different ways of thinking and acting contribute to each.

Continue reading →