What is a mystic? Why learn from them? How can they help me in my life today?
Dominican Center’s Foundations in Spirituality is based on the reality that Christian mystics have A LOT to offer us in our own spiritual–life!–journeys. Tom Eggleston took the class this past year and reflects below on the impact that learning from Christian mystics has had on his personal growth and connection with God.
When I began this class, I had a persistent understanding of a mystic as a solitary figure who enjoyed ecstatic experiences of God…I have gained a deeper knowledge of mystical experiences. One thing that surprised me greatly is the deep lives of friendship, community, and shared experiences with others that mystics through time enjoyed. The broadening of this understanding of mysticism both made me realize that the mystic is not a solitary figure and that each Christian is gifted a degree of mystical experience of the Living God.
For me, perhaps the most intriguing instance of a person who was creative in her approach to solitary prayer and communal life was St. Julian of Norwich. She lived in a sort of cloister by herself, yet received visits often from neighbors seeking counsel. While her life of prayer, at first blush, seemed very closed to others, the reality was that her ministry was outward facing in care of others.
A particular part of the communal life for the mystics which I found of great interest is that of friendships. For many of the mystics in our coursework there were some who had notable friendships which seemed to deepen their prayer life and support them…Loneliness is a hurt difficult to surpass in the isolation of contemplation; solitude and its necessity might only be faced with hearts made full through friendship.
Perhaps because of my own baggage and perhaps from our culture’s reverence for the “rugged individualist,” before this class I imagined the work of the contemplative to be lonely work. Even as my own life experience negated that idea, I still clung to the image of the mystic life as one of loneliness. The spiritual masters we have studied have healed that image in my mind, and I now see clearly how profoundly connected life in community and friendship is to the life of the contemplative.
