Mystical Moments

As I was sitting in my EFM class today the discussion was about mystics. Burning bushes and other events that happen to declare the presence of God to human beings. The question was asked by the moderator of the group if such an event could happen today. People claim to see the face of Jesus or the Virgin Mary in a biscuit or a water stain on a wall. I remember a story about a man who purchased a potato chip for hundreds of dollars because it had the image of Jesus in it.

Some people can only see God if it shows up and smacks them in the face and they can show it to others to prove it. Some people I believe truly do have an experience of the mystical out of the blue where the presence of God is flash of light or a sudden appearance of an image that is suddenly life changing but they keep it to themselves because they can’t explain it.

I must confess that I’ve never had an experience like this. But I have had mystical experiences.

There are times in life when a greater truth becomes suddenly clear. It’s almost as if you have a moment where you see life as a whole instead from our narrow vantage points. A profound truth becomes apparent. Sometimes it’s only a moment of seeing life clearly without all the thoughts pushing your mind. It happens for just a moment and then fades. If you are like me it is really hard to hang on to that moment. The everyday world seems to come rushing back with all of its distractions and noises and within a day or so I’ve forgotten all about that moment. Except that it happened. Some people are able to find these mystical moments through meditation. Some people are able to experience this through prayer. For me I find it when I listen to the silence. This was a term I learned a few years ago. Like the air that we breathe that goes in and out of us unseen and sustains our lives. We move through the air and it fills the spaces all around us. Silence does this for me. This is not space empty of or devoid of sound, but a silence that has its own fullness. The everyday sounds of life layer on top of this silence. I like to think of this silence as the place where God speaks. It is not filled with words or noises but with clarity. This is how I pray. Not with words formed in my mind but with a quiet that listens.

I try to hang onto moments from the holidays which I remember that silence. Moments spent alone in the hospital room with my father in the middle of the night as the snow fell silently outside and he struggled with his injuries and between the present and the past in his memory. The door to the room was closed and the hospital sounds in the hallway were quiet. Even the ventilation system was quiet. I heard the silence. I try to hang on to moments with my daughter as we trekked through over 2 feet of snow in the totally silent farm fields in the country on a winters day walk. The only sound was the snow crunching under my feet as my daughter tried to follow in my footsteps. I finally stopped to carry her on my back through an especially high drift. We stopped for a moment and looked at the horizon across acres of snow white farm fields that seemed to stretch forever. I listened to the silence. After a few moments we continued our trek. I knew I had just listened to God.

Those are my mystical moments.