Becoming an Ordinary Mystic


Book Description

Do you ever feel like you are walking in spiritual circles? While we might think it would be different for a Franciscan priest, Father Albert Haase shares the same struggles. Yet he also affirms that we are all called to be ordinary mystics. This book offers a daily path to help us learn to be a mystic—cultivating a life with God in which we draw close, listen, and respond moment to moment.




Ordinary Mysticism


Book Description

"Ordinary Mysticism is an exciting introduction to medieval mysticism. This inspiring book boldly hopes to make people think differently about Christianity by challenging many widely held one-sided or extreme viewpoints. At the same time, this work provides genuine help for developing a spirituality that is both contemporary and rooted in tradition." "Set in the context of a balanced Christian life, Ordinary Mysticism opens with a chapter on the many meanings of mysticism. The following chapters offer insights from key mystics on topics that are relevant in today's society, such as Christian life as process, contemplation and action, and union with God. The insights come from direct readings or works by Bernard of Clairvaux, Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Meister Eckhart, and others."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved




Ordinary Mysticism


Book Description

“This gorgeous, transformative, welcoming book is for anyone who longs to feel more present, more alive, more joyful and aware of the holiness of daily life.”—Anne Lamott, author of Dusk, Night, Dawn and Help, Thanks, Wow Welcome to the temple of your regular life. So begins beloved spiritual guide Mirabai Starr’s stunning exploration of finding the extraordinary in the everyday. In Ordinary Mysticism, she helps readers discover their own inner mystic and let go of the limiting belief that spiritual life exists only in traditional places of worship. Mysticism, she explains, is a direct experience of the sacred—no church or clergy required. Our everyday life can be an encounter with the sacred if we pay attention. Starr explores the magic of mundane life, from weeding in our humble gardens to a slow evening walk with a friend to a full kitchen table surrounded by family. Embracing mysticism in our everyday is a way of being more alive in the world, an awakening to the interconnectedness between all things. You can visit an ashram in the Himalayas or kneel in a church pew to connect to the spirit or examine life’s big questions—but these aren’t the only opportunities to discover the sacred. Life, Starr reminds us, is holy ground. Lyrical and tender, filled with profound wisdom and mind-opening insights, Ordinary Mysticism is about finding wonder in regular life, grounded in lessons from spiritual teachers across the centuries—from Julian of Norwich to Ram Dass. Starr combines their ancient wisdom with the story of her own personal and spiritual journey—from surviving the heartbreak of her fourteen-year-old daughter’s death to growing up amid the 1960s counterculture that introduced her to mysticism to her self-made spiritual practice of today. Alongside storytelling and age-old teachings, Starr offers practices and writing prompts for help our souls seek holy ground. When you decide to walk the path of the mystic, the mundane shows up as miraculous, the boring becomes fascinating, and your own shortcomings turn out to be your greatest gifts. May we all find meaning and wonder in our most ordinary moments.




Wittgenstein: From Mysticism to Ordinary Language


Book Description

Wittgenstein: From Mysticism to Ordinary Language presents the Tractatus as a work of mystic theology intended to direct the reader to a transcendental plane from which human existence can be viewed from the divine perspective. More than any other work on Wittgenstein, this study integrates text material with personal biographical information, especially information dealing with his spiritual and psychological states. The result is a fresh, coherent, and extremely illuminating picture of Wittgenstein, successfully avoiding the pitfalls of either psychological reductionism or unfaithfulness to the text. It is bold without being reckless, passionately argued without being doctrinaire, and makes a very powerful and persuasive case for its main thesis.




The Mysticism of Ordinary and Extraordinary Experience


Book Description

We are so much more than we appear to be. The “why” of our existence is far more complex than the “how” of our being. Mysticism probes the hidden nature of who we are, why we are, and our relationship to our Creator. We catch glimpses of this not only in the ordinary experiences of life, but also through extraordinary and unusual encounters with mystery. Mysticism is the awareness of our reality.




Everyday Mystic


Book Description

Everyday Mystic: Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary will help you to find inner peace, love and joy. You will discover that they are already within you--if you know where to look. Seize the moment, and discover your own inner mystic. Dive deep into the mysteries God wants to reveal to you through the journey of 21st century mystic Theresa Joseph. On your way, you will uncover your own mystical abilities--opening you up to a direct relationship with the Divine. Everyday Mystic: Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary tells us how in the midst of our ordinary lives we can experience the extraordinariness of the Divine. This is the story of the author's unlikely journey from financial executive to everyday mystic; how she began, in the course of her daily life, to see and hear the Divine. Her premise is that if she can see and hear the Divine, so can you. She is telling you that you already have the Divine communicating with you in many different ways--you just need to open yourself to the infinite possibilities. Joseph shares with you the messages she received over the years from Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, Mother Mary, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Teresa of Avila and others. These messages transcend all religious boundaries and are the sacred truths for our generation. Everyday Mystic: Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary will reveal to you the mysteries of life and tell you how to uncover them yourself. It will teach you who God is and who you are. It is about love.




The Mysticism of Ordinary Life


Book Description

The Mysticism of Ordinary Life: Theology, Philosophy, and Feminism presents a new vision of Christian mystical theology. It offers critical interpretations of Catholic theologians, postmodern philosophers, and intersectional feminists who draw on mystical traditions to affirm ordinary life. It raises questions about normativity, gender, and race, while arguing that the everyday experience of the grace of divine union can be an empowering source of social transformation. It develops Christian teachings about the Word made flesh, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the Christian spiritual life, while exploring the mystical significance of philosophical discourses about immanence, alterity, in-betweenness, nothingness, and embodiment. The discussion of Latino/a and Black sources in North America expands the Western mystical canon and opens new horizons for interdisciplinary dialogue. The volume challenges contemporary culture to recognize and draw inspiration from quotidian manifestations of the unknown God of incarnate love. It includes detailed studies of Grace Jantzen, Amy Hollywood, Catherine Keller, Karl Rahner, Adrienne von Speyr, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Michel Henry, Michel de Certeau, Luce Irigaray, Julia Kristeva, Gloría Anzaldúa, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Alice Walker, M. Shawn Copeland, and more.







The Mysticism of Everyday


Book Description

Much of the traditional literature and teaching on Christian mysticism focuses on that most special experience of God which the very rare individual enjoys. The current renewal of Christian mysticism, however, is being directed toward a more ordinary mysticism. The Mysticism of Everyday develops and encourages this more ordinary form. While not completely omitting a discussion of classical mysticism, it concentrates on that type of mysticism which many people experience. Indeed, some "ordinary mystics" are unaware of their own profound, mystical experiences. In Mysticism, Edward Carter guides us into recognizing and affirming the mystical experiences of everyday life. In doing so, he provides a needed complement to the long-standing, but limited tradition in classical Christian mysticism.




Ordinary People as Monks and Mystics


Book Description

An organizational psychologist looks at the stories of ordinary people who choose a solitary lifestyle to find wholeness and self actualization.