Mystical Experiences

"Everyone who is destined to have a spiritual transformation comes to the journey with a wound as big as God.  There are very few people who become advanced mystics because they simply feel happy on a Sunday afternoon."  Andrew Harvey

Being on a spiritual journey is one of the hardest adventures I have ever undertaken in my life.  Granted, the rewards have been many but getting to the rewards takes a huge amount of discipline and focus.  Many times, the urge to just give up is very strong.

As Andrew Harvey says, most of us come into the spiritual life because of the wounds, or the desperation that we are at the end of our rope and there is no where else to go.  As a last resort...God.

One of my spiritual practices has been with a written journal.  In it I have captured many of my moods, experiences, anguishes, pains of all sorts, and, many times, just conversations with God and things that I want to get out of my head.  I have realized that once I have written something down, I can forget about it.  In this process, I have gotten use to telling God all sorts of things that are bothering me, exciting me, things that I want to explore or just questions that come up. What I love about the experience, is the answers that come in new ideas, insights or concepts that allow me to explore and contemplate on a different level.  

Some of the ways I explore are with words games.  For example, I use the "what if," this happens but I use it in a positive way or what I would call an up-leveling of the issue.  What if it turns out to be the best thing I could have done?  What if this is better than anything else I could have thought of?  

Another is the "I wonder if," and take it to different conclusions.  I wonder if this could possibly be the answer that I have been looking for all these weeks?  I wonder if all of this is for my highest and best for the moment?  I wonder what else there is about this that I need to know?

What I know for sure is that when I am experiencing the deep "wound" of an issue, that writing it all out and turning it over to God does wonders for my psyche and my sense of well being.  I invite you to give it some thought and see where it takes you.  Some of my answers have sometimes felt a bit mystical.  Some magical.  Some just ordinary.