Contact Us  |  Help  |  Home 
Log In  |  Register 
 Home  Calendar  Newsletter
Mysticism

Richard Rohr, Franciscan Priest and authority on male spirituality, has been sharing an email devotional series on mysticism. At first we may shy away from the whole concept of mysticism because it’s esoteric, mysterious, Catholic (with a capital ‘C’ meaning Roman Catholic not catholic as in one universal church). At the same time it’s not measurable in the same way as church attendance, giving money or sharing food.
Brother Richard has a way of expressing mysticism that is straightforward and doesn’t compromise our theology of the cross we Christians who happen to be Lutheran espouse. Instead of telling us how to go out and get it he tells us one way in which we can recognize we are having a mystical experience, an experience of God.
Mysticism should be an experience of new found freedom, not a freedom from but a freedom for: a new found capacity to love. I love this quote: “When you see people going to church and becoming smaller instead of larger, you have every reason to question whether the practices, sermons, sacraments, or liturgies are opening them to an authentic God experience.”
When we attend worship, when we read the bible, when we, as we promise to do in our Service of the Word liturgy, talk about God ‘when we are at home and when we are away’ do we experience a sense growing larger or smaller? The God of the Bible is a God that wants us to grow larger, not a God who wants us to get smaller, become paralyzed with a diminished capacity to love.
The God of the Bible is a God that wants to make of us a great nation, individually and collectively. As we enter a new church year with the beginning of advent (arrival or the anticipation of an arrival) let us anticipate that what God is sending us is a gift that increases our capacity to love.
ELCA
Vibrant Faith Ministries
Gulf Coast Synod

St. John Lutheran Church of New Ulm, TX
Worship 10:30 a.m.
Pastor Glenn Hohlt

211 Hickory St.
(979)992-3629
https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-John-Lutheran-Church-New-Ulm/143393435683322
 Copyright Policy  |  Privacy Policy  |  RSS Feeds  |  Site Directory  |    |  Site Map  |  The Store
 
Contact Lutherans Online
866-201-1522
RSS icon RSS  Facebook icon Facebook  Twitter icon Twitter  
 
         
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Contact Thrivent Financial
800-THRIVENT
(800-847-4836)
Appleton Office:
4321 N. Ballard Road
Appleton, WI 54919-0001 USA
Minneapolis Office:
625 Fourth Avenue S.
Minneapolis, MN 55415-1624 USA
 
         
Insurance products issued or offered by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Appleton, WI. Not all products are available in all states. Products issued by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans are available to applicants who meet membership, insurability, U.S. citizenship and residency requirements. Securities and investment advisory services are offered through Thrivent Investment Management Inc., 625 Fourth Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55415, a FINRA and SIPC member and a wholly owned subsidiary of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Thrivent Financial representatives are registered representatives of Thrivent Investment Management Inc. They are also licensed insurance agents of Thrivent Financial.
 
Bank products and trust services are offered through Thrivent Financial Bank (Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender), a wholly owned subsidiary of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Insurance, securities, investment advisory services, and trust and investment management accounts are not deposits, are not guaranteed by Thrivent Financial Bank, are not insured by the FDIC or any other federal government agency, and may go down in value.