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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
Ran out of time to keep it checked out at the library. It's a wonderful book, though quite dense.
My hopes for this book were dashed by the table of contents.
There are 90 entries…and less than 20 attributed to women.
#SausageFest
#InherentBias
The rest of my review is written as I read thru the book.
There may be long stretches without comment in an effort to keep repeating myself to a minimum.
The first entry attributed to a woman is horribly disappointing.
My in-book notes are:
“I have to get rid of everything God made & gave me in order to unite? GTFOH.”
And, at the end:
“This whole thing screams narc(issistic) abuse.
Girl, stand UP!”
The “Asceticism & Purgation” section has me at a loss, completely confused.
My note:
“What does any of this have to to with Jesus?”
There are many more references to the letters of PAUL than to the GOSPELS, where the words of JESUS are found.
Page 56:
“Christianity is the dogma of Christ our Savior. It is composed of the acetic life, of the contemplation of the physical world, and of the contemplation of God.”
My note:
“Is that what Jesus told us to do?”
This whole thing, at least so far, is painfully steeped in the concept of “Original Sin”, and the self-loathing that comes with believing in that concept.
I recommend reading “Original Blessing” by Matthew Fox, for a more spiritually-sound, abundance-of-God-focused perspective.
Page 57:
(From number 81)
“The custodian of these commandments is the fear of God which is in turn the offspring of true faith…”
My note:
“Fear-driven; Control”
Page 58:
(From number 86)
“The rational soul operates according to…”
My note:
The rational soul doesn’t operate out of fear; Contrary to 81”
I’m starting to believe that these weren’t ‘ecstasies’ these people we’re experiencing, but their literal brains going haywire due to lack of the most basic essentials for human survival.
And I still have NO IDEA what any of this has to do with Jesus, or with what HE TOLD US TO DO.
It’s giving ‘Suffering Olympics’ & ‘Spiritual Psychosis’, not ‘Following Christ’.
Exhibit A: Mary of Oignies.
She was, according to the text sited in this book, the DEFINITION of Spiritual Psychosis.
So incredibly sad for her, but disgusting that others were encouraged to follow suit.
Final thoughts on Section 2, “Asceticism & Purgation”:
Holy Self-Loathing, Suffering Olympics, & Spiritual Psychosis, Batman!”
Section 3:
I like the idea of your life as one big prayer, in the first passage, written by Origen.
John Cassian part:
-More self-centered asceticism.
-Also, it makes no sense to me for God to bestow all of the blessings that They have onto the world and its people,
Just to then require we go to (in some cases GREAT) lengths to ignore it & treat it as bad in order to create/maintain/strengthen a connection with Them.
-“…our feeble intelligence and dull heart…”
Do you actually believe that it somehow pleases God to hear us, creatures made in Their image, talk about ourselves this way? 🤔
I don’t.
If anything, it insults Them & Their ability to create.
Section 4:
Page 126:
More self-abuse, including starvation.
Is “mysticism” just a self-serving label for all these people’s abuse-induced hallucinations?
My note on Page 127, next to instructions on how to be an ascetic:
“Pointedly ignore & abuse the blessings God gave you.’
I am repeatedly struck by how incredibly self-centered and self-focused this is.
All this time and strenuous effort, and there is literally no benefit for anyone else, at any point.
It’s like they’ll do ANYTHING to avoid having to live like Jesus ACTUALLY told us to.
My note on Page 129:
‘Starve, abuse, & neglect the body.
Make the brain do work 24/7, & trust what it says…’
Pages 142-143:
Letter writer calling the receiver “My dear daughter”, but talking s out the love between them like it’s a romantic relationship.
Also, more of what Jesus did NOT ask for (worship Him, because it’s easier than what he actually DID ask for (follow His example).
Page 147, middle:
Writer (Miguel De Molinos) quotes St. John the Evangelist re: love not in word, but deed,
Then immediately states the opposite.
My note:
“Is it in deeds/acts or not?”
So, De Molinos’ message was essentially:
‘Don’t say or show you love God by helping your fellow members of God’s Creation. Just sit down, shut up, and suffer in self-centered silence, because you and your experience are the only things that are important here.’
I have a feeling I’m going to abandon this book instead of finishing it.
2/28/25:
I’m abandoning it.
I just can’t make myself read it, anymore.
This is a very useful reference text. McGinn's introduction is clear and gives you a good overall picture of mysticism. The key takeaway is that these texts aren't just for the religious. Like all great literature, they also inform on the human condition and therefore have value for all manner of academic fields, philosophy included. I particularly liked the chapter on Julian of Norwich. Fun fact: did you know she is the first woman to write a complete (surviving) work in the English language? Really fascinating.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked this up on a whim, I am casually interested in Church history, and I thought this would be dense, probably dry, but maybe interesting in an academic way. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book was put together brilliantly, perfect for an amateur like me. For one thing, it has a broad range of topics and authors, giving a very good overview of many different streams of writing. Secondly, the context given for each one was superb: it helped me immensely understand what I was reading (and when and where they came from), so that topics that could've easily been impenetrable and confusing felt fascinating and understandable. Thirdly, he kept the excerpts short, so that I wasn't intimidated by long passages that felt like they went on forever, but everything was bite-size and instructive. I didn't agree with everything, but I feel like I came away with a wealth of understanding and knowledge that I didn't have before, and I don't know how this collection could've been any better than it was.
A nice selection. One wishes for more after treading it but this work both wets the appetite and satisfies one's desire for theological mysticism. You can't go wrong with this volume. Especially nice was the Archbishop of Canterbury's introduction.
Of all the required reading for my spiritual direction certification, the mystics challenge me the most. Their ardor and affection for the triune God reveals layers of 21st-century cynicism that cloud my ability to adore God. For example this stunning exclamation from St. John of the Cross
“O sweet burn!
O delicious wound!
O tender hand! O gentle touch
That savors of eternal life,
And pays every debt!
In slaying you have changed death into life”
In Thomas Merton, I feel like I’ve found the most helpful guide in holding together the two ends of one rope - contemplation and obedience (or surrender).
“Contemplation is also the response to a call: a call from Him who has no voice, and yet who speaks in everything that is, and who, most of all, speaks in the depths of our own being: for we ourselves are words of his. But we are words that are meant to respond to him, to answer to him, to echo him, and even in some way to contain him and signify him. Contemplation is this echo. It is a deep resonance in the inmost center of our spirit in which our very life loses its separate voice and re-sounds with the majesty and the mercy of the Hidden and Living One. He answers himself in us and this answer is divine life, divine creativity, making all things new. We ourselves become his echo and his answer. It is as if in creating us God asked a question, and in awakening us to contemplation he answered the question, so that the contemplative is at the same time, question and answer.” ( Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation)
In Merton’s call to both hold closely our contemplative encounters with God and our desire to share the joy with everyone we meet, I heard a beautiful echo of what I believe to be God’s calling on my life:
“At the same time [the contemplative] most earnestly wants everybody else to share his peace and his joy. His contemplation gives him a new outlook on the world of men. He looks about him with a secret and tranquil surmise which he perhaps admits to no one; hoping to find in the faces of other men or to hear in their voices some sign of vocation and potentiality for the same deep happiness and wisdom. He finds himself speaking of God to the men in whom he hopes he has recognized the light of his own peace, the awakening of his own secret: or if he cannot speak to them, he writes for them, and his contemplative life is still imperfect without sharing, without companionship, without communion.” (Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation)
Among the other highlights from reading this anthology, I appreciated learning the influence of John Cassian on the prayers we use in the daily offices (“O Lord, make haste to help us”) and his teaching emphasis on “puritas cordis” (purity of heart) and “oratio ignita” (fiery prayer). I’m always encouraged by Julian of Norwich, and in this reading it was hearing more about her teaching on the “motherhood of Jesus”. Julian of Norwich provided me with what I’d love to be my own eulogy: “I wanted to live so as to love God better and for longer, and therefore know and love him better in the bliss of heaven...Good Lord, may my ceasing to live be to your glory.” (p. 239)
Amen. May it be so!
“O sweet burn!
O delicious wound!
O tender hand! O gentle touch
That savors of eternal life,
And pays every debt!
In slaying you have changed death into life”
In Thomas Merton, I feel like I’ve found the most helpful guide in holding together the two ends of one rope - contemplation and obedience (or surrender).
“Contemplation is also the response to a call: a call from Him who has no voice, and yet who speaks in everything that is, and who, most of all, speaks in the depths of our own being: for we ourselves are words of his. But we are words that are meant to respond to him, to answer to him, to echo him, and even in some way to contain him and signify him. Contemplation is this echo. It is a deep resonance in the inmost center of our spirit in which our very life loses its separate voice and re-sounds with the majesty and the mercy of the Hidden and Living One. He answers himself in us and this answer is divine life, divine creativity, making all things new. We ourselves become his echo and his answer. It is as if in creating us God asked a question, and in awakening us to contemplation he answered the question, so that the contemplative is at the same time, question and answer.” ( Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation)
In Merton’s call to both hold closely our contemplative encounters with God and our desire to share the joy with everyone we meet, I heard a beautiful echo of what I believe to be God’s calling on my life:
“At the same time [the contemplative] most earnestly wants everybody else to share his peace and his joy. His contemplation gives him a new outlook on the world of men. He looks about him with a secret and tranquil surmise which he perhaps admits to no one; hoping to find in the faces of other men or to hear in their voices some sign of vocation and potentiality for the same deep happiness and wisdom. He finds himself speaking of God to the men in whom he hopes he has recognized the light of his own peace, the awakening of his own secret: or if he cannot speak to them, he writes for them, and his contemplative life is still imperfect without sharing, without companionship, without communion.” (Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation)
Among the other highlights from reading this anthology, I appreciated learning the influence of John Cassian on the prayers we use in the daily offices (“O Lord, make haste to help us”) and his teaching emphasis on “puritas cordis” (purity of heart) and “oratio ignita” (fiery prayer). I’m always encouraged by Julian of Norwich, and in this reading it was hearing more about her teaching on the “motherhood of Jesus”. Julian of Norwich provided me with what I’d love to be my own eulogy: “I wanted to live so as to love God better and for longer, and therefore know and love him better in the bliss of heaven...Good Lord, may my ceasing to live be to your glory.” (p. 239)
Amen. May it be so!