Preparation
There is nothing about mysticism which seeks information, nor a change of status. There is nothing static about it. You are entering a fluid and dynamic existence from which you can never depart again. You are entering upon a journey through that Land Without Words. Change will become the only constant. This fundamentally unsettled existence is disturbing and captivating, but requires a complete shift away from what we have been told by mainstream society is the best of all possible worlds. We learn to seek comfort in discomfort, peace in the storm, stability in the chaos — not because we become something different, not because we become so adept at handling everything, but stop trying to handle anything. We seek no control over the reality around us, but seek merely to restrain our own fallen nature.
Rather than the nebulous loss of self into the nothingness of the Far Eastern mysticism, we lose ourselves into God Almighty. We have a distinct Person who is separate from His Creation, but surely available to us in all things. It’s not because He declares to us the nature of anything, but reveals to us the place a thing holds in His calling of us. In a sense, we know all things only by their use in whatever world the Lord reveals to us. All revelation is an imperative.
By no means do we give priority to limiting pain, suffering or damage to our selves. It’s human nature to avoid these things, and that in itself is not sinful, but becomes sin when that avoidance stands as the final point of decision. The body is merely the vehicle, but so is the intellect. Those things are fallen, untrustworthy, and we must escape their hold on us as much as God allows.
A critical element is grasping the parable of the stone foundation. Jesus spoke of building on the rock, a reference to Himself as God’s revelation. Upon experiencing that call, that nipping of heels from the Hound of Heaven, we are confronted with a mass of confusion which obscures that Rock. God is One, and we all share in Him, but no two of us have the same calling, so no two of us can receive precisely the same revelation. The touchstone of our individual calling is that unshakable mass of imperative which God places in us unilaterally. Our awareness of it comes in the form of convictions. We all should have heard by now the old saw: Opinions you hold; convictions hold you. As you begin to explore this non-rational faculty, your most reliable foundation is your convictions. Every choice must be a stone which fits on that foundation.
Convictions are things from which you cannot walk away. More than any other thing you can identify, this is the substance of what you are, what makes you an individual, and what unites you with God. Your understanding of these imperatives will grow, changing often at times, but the substance of what they are, generally hard or impossible to put into words, are what God has made of you. Insofar as you can know your true self, it is by knowing your convictions. All the ways we might claim to know God or His will starts right here. The first and greatest task, and the one to which you must return every moment, is defining those imperatives in the context of that moment.
For the sake of a shared vision, the Lord did surely reveal the means for comparing notes. On a purely human level, we have the Covenant of Noah. This provides a cognitive frame of reference. It is not restrictive in the sense of demanding you obey it in detail, but as marking off general boundaries. It is designed to be handled deductively — this is the given, and all other things are organized to fit this pattern. We note the Law of Moses was a specific implementation of it for a specific context, but Jesus said of both Law Covenants:
“Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)
Paul echoes this in Romans 13:8 — “he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” If your commitment is loyal devotion to God, with the corollary of respect for your fellow humans, you will fulfill whatever the Laws intended.
Given we know the world of mysticism is filled with so many ungodly distractions, it pays well to shield yourself. It’s not the place where God alone speaks, but where demons also roam. They can be found any place we can go. Our adherence to the Laws through sacrificial godly love is our defense. It’s not a matter of secret phrases, incantations, declarations which quote English translations (or any other language) of the Bible, but your commitment constantly renewed. When you are obeying the Laws of God, the demons are impotent against you. That is, they can’t do anything which God doesn’t allow. The Land Without Words is your home, but you should expect to walk a few miles in the shoes of Job as you journey through it.
