tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3321657255738955008.post7499405263800023243..comments2023-03-21T05:51:10.791-04:00Comments on Father Norm's Notebook: The Reluctant MysticFr Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08746221786980114114noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3321657255738955008.post-49770652444054163862010-11-10T00:14:29.844-05:002010-11-10T00:14:29.844-05:00I'm pretty sure I've always tended toward ...I'm pretty sure I've always tended toward mysticism more than the "requirements" of religious practice. This could be because I am poetically inclined, and have always felt God in a much more real way when experiencing through the senses. I find this kind of experience of God more natural than falling in line with Church precepts, rules, regulations. After all, ours is a sacramental Church, in which God can be encountered through our senses.This to me, is THE starting point for deep from the heart experience of God.<br /> I do have the same hesitation as you do, though, when it comes to opening up enough to allow God to enter so deeply as to end up in a full blown mystic experience, not only for the experience in and of itself but for what God might ask or call me to. I wonder if we shut out possibilities because of this fear. By that I mean the possiblity of experiencing God as mystics before us have. Some teachers of the faith tell us we should put passion aside to follow Christ; that love is a decision not a feeling. I say what is following Christ if we are not filled with passionate love for Him, for the mission and for others? For mysticism, passion is an essential ingredient.rippedshoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14745746968770023104noreply@blogger.com