Understanding Spirituality and Culture through Christ
The comedian, author and TV host Ben Stein says, "I cannot tell you anything that, in a few minutes, will tell you how to be rich. But I can tell you how to feel rich, which is far better, let me tell you firsthand, than being rich. Be grateful. . . . It's the only totally reliable get-rich-quick scheme." We live in a culture where developing gratitude as an attitude is seen as being key to success.
Read MoreTrees are spiritual because they have deep roots, roots that are unseen but their strength comes from their deep roots. Just like the trees, the deep roots of my own spirituality are not seen outside but it is those deep roots that strengthen me. The trees are also a place where many living things find their abode. . Christ is the one in whom I find my adobe and rest in. If I am deeply rooted in Christ, and grow out of Christ, then I will become an extension of Christ’s love that points people to the rest in Christ. The tree is a deeply mysterious being which reflects God’s nurturing and life giving side. So being among big trees in the evening was to be mystic presence of God.
Read MoreOne way to counteract modernism's corrosive nature is to consciously make space for God's presence. One important way of this making space is performing ceaseless prayers. I have found it to be most useful for my life is to say short prayers through the day, "Father have mercy on me." "Father take care." "Jesus, Son of God have mercy on me."
Read MoreThe one who is tuned to this deep presence of Christ in the subconscious self is the Christian mystic. The mystic does not have to be cloistered within the halls of the monastery. For the mystic the whole world is a monastery. For the Christian mystic the whole world is sacramentally held together by the Word of God (Heb 1:3) and God's presence is manifest through it.
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