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Authors: Karol Jackowski
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voice of God demands something entirely different from, even contrary to, the “infallible” voice of papal authority, there are those called to follow the voice of God in conscience, regardless of the consequences. In the Middle Ages, mysticism appeared to many Christians as a prayerful alternative to the corrupt voices of Church authority. Even though Catholic teaching gives priority to the voice of individual conscience in decision making, the voice of the Holy Spirit within us, we are rarely encouraged to follow that practice. Another doctrine not proclaimed from the pulpit is the “doctrine of receptivity.” In confirming the divine role of personal conscience, the doctrine of receptivity reveals that a church teaching cannot be true if it’s not received as such by the community of believers, meaning all Catholics. While that seems like common sense now, how different Roman Catholicism would be had those two teachings ruled the Middle Ages, or the age we’re in now.
Nowhere in history does the mystical tradition explode with such divine light and life as it does in the Middle Ages. It appeared to cut through the darkness and decadence of the institutional church, to drive many of its monks, nuns, priests, and laity back to their spiritual roots in God alone and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Mysticism as a lifestyle is nowhere near as exclusive or as unattainable as it might appear, nor is it a divine gift given only to the fanatically religious. Quite the contrary. All ancient religions have their mystics and holy ones, including ordinary men, women, even children—like Bernadette of Lourdes and Thérèse of Lisieux, who became saints in their teens. The voice of God speaks in souls who listen, and not just those in the priesthood. Mysticism is a matter of being close to God, something everyone can be.
While the uneducated, medieval mind may be more naturally inclined toward mysticism than ours is, we, too, have access to divine revelation whenever we listen to the voice of God in prayer, see in one another the face of God, and see in our lives the touch of God. The twentieth-century mystic Evelyn Underhill wrote, “No deeply religious person is without mysticism, and no mystic can be anything other than a deeply religious person,” 5 which is to say a deeply loving person. We recognize mystics, those touched by God, in the same way Christ tells us we can recognize all Christians, by the way they—and we—love one another. Love is the infallible sign of all touched by God, and compassion is our most divine power.
Knowing what it’s like to be touched by God is something most of us know. Anyone who experiences any part of life as divine knows what that’s like. Anyone who falls in love with a man, a woman, a child, nature, or God knows what it is to be touched that deeply, that mysteriously, and that divinely. Mystics describe the experience of God as life changing, as one in which they undergo a conversion of sorts. Their whole life changes. As a result of being touched by God, everyday priorities shift and personal interests are drawn toward those activities that nourish the inner life: solitude, prayer, creative work, spiritual reading. Having been touched by God, we seek out the company of those also touched by God, those who are drawn toward lives of service, works of mercy, and creative work. All great artists are natural mystics. Emily Dickinson was, as was the poet Rilke and most artists I know. They have to be in order to move the soul of humanity so divinely and so tunelessly. All those touched by God cannot help but be moved to works of love and works of art. Jesus reveals that “the mouth speaks whatever fills the mind,” and if the mind is filled with love and God, life is filled with nothing but divine experiences. The writings of the mystics reveal how sweet that is.
What mystics tend to see more than anything else is the hidden side of life, the invisible movements of God behind everything
Nowhere in history does the mystical tradition explode with such divine light and life as it does in the Middle Ages. It appeared to cut through the darkness and decadence of the institutional church, to drive many of its monks, nuns, priests, and laity back to their spiritual roots in God alone and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Mysticism as a lifestyle is nowhere near as exclusive or as unattainable as it might appear, nor is it a divine gift given only to the fanatically religious. Quite the contrary. All ancient religions have their mystics and holy ones, including ordinary men, women, even children—like Bernadette of Lourdes and Thérèse of Lisieux, who became saints in their teens. The voice of God speaks in souls who listen, and not just those in the priesthood. Mysticism is a matter of being close to God, something everyone can be.
While the uneducated, medieval mind may be more naturally inclined toward mysticism than ours is, we, too, have access to divine revelation whenever we listen to the voice of God in prayer, see in one another the face of God, and see in our lives the touch of God. The twentieth-century mystic Evelyn Underhill wrote, “No deeply religious person is without mysticism, and no mystic can be anything other than a deeply religious person,” 5 which is to say a deeply loving person. We recognize mystics, those touched by God, in the same way Christ tells us we can recognize all Christians, by the way they—and we—love one another. Love is the infallible sign of all touched by God, and compassion is our most divine power.
Knowing what it’s like to be touched by God is something most of us know. Anyone who experiences any part of life as divine knows what that’s like. Anyone who falls in love with a man, a woman, a child, nature, or God knows what it is to be touched that deeply, that mysteriously, and that divinely. Mystics describe the experience of God as life changing, as one in which they undergo a conversion of sorts. Their whole life changes. As a result of being touched by God, everyday priorities shift and personal interests are drawn toward those activities that nourish the inner life: solitude, prayer, creative work, spiritual reading. Having been touched by God, we seek out the company of those also touched by God, those who are drawn toward lives of service, works of mercy, and creative work. All great artists are natural mystics. Emily Dickinson was, as was the poet Rilke and most artists I know. They have to be in order to move the soul of humanity so divinely and so tunelessly. All those touched by God cannot help but be moved to works of love and works of art. Jesus reveals that “the mouth speaks whatever fills the mind,” and if the mind is filled with love and God, life is filled with nothing but divine experiences. The writings of the mystics reveal how sweet that is.
What mystics tend to see more than anything else is the hidden side of life, the invisible movements of God behind everything
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