Everyday Spirituality

The mystics are onto something. There is another plane to this life, something more than we can see, more than we can fully understand. I think it is right and good to embrace and be shaped by that mystery.

But even so, we must be careful to avoid platonizing Christian devotion. There is no high life or low life. The goal of my devotion is not to escape this world for some mystical union. Rather, the goal is to see and show God in every aspect of my everyday life.

Paul has no tolerance for those who would neglect their families in the name of spirituality (1 Timothy 5:8).) He condemns idleness (2 Thessalonians 3:6).

Interestingly enough, Jesus says you may see him invisibly not in some mystical soul embrace but in the face of the needy, in the face of the alien, the widow, and the orphan (Matthew 25:37-40).