Treasures Old and New

I have been dealing with some mystical ideas which are both complex and mystifying.  I spent some time with the Eastern Orthodox yesterday and we talked about Saints, Christian imagination, and the life of St. Patrick.  In the midst of thoughts that kept coming at me like a splinter in my mind I could not let go were some of these issues.

1.  How does our traditions and beliefs limit or aid us in our faith walk with God?  One person's boundaries are different from another.  Spiritual discernment and developing a scriptural imagination are essential to helping us on the one hand not to jump off the track but on the other hand, what if we miss what God is trying to show us because we are simply not ready to receive it at the moment?  "Lord, help make me ready and willing."

So here is another idea about the number 1111 that is way outside my comfort zone.  Many Jews say there is spiritual power and powerful numbers associated with the Hebrew alphabet.  One way of assigning numbers to the Hebrew letters is with gematria.  When one arranges the letters to form four ones, one gets this message.  "God wants us fully human.  There is only one God and God wants us to be One.  God desires to bring heaven to earth so that this world would be transfigured.  As heaven unites with earth, all people will be blessed."  As one who strongly believes in the unity of God's Spirit and the unity for all of God's people, this powerfully resonates with me today.

2.  I started reading the visions of Joa Bolendas.  She is a Protestant Pastor wife who had these fascinating conversations with angels, saints, and Mary.  She was so changed by these encounters that she becomes more Eastern Orthodox and Catholic in her thinking and spiritual practices.  I especially look forward to seeing her long discussions on the meaning of various scriptures within the Bible. I suddenly had this thought concerning her spiritual DNA or her background.  I knew she lived in Switzerland but is that her background or is it German?  The reason I ask is my background is German and all the sudden I am wondering what I may learn from German mysticism since that is my roots and history?  Two German mystics I plan on visiting in the future are Hildegard von Bingen and St. Mechtild.

3.  Somehow I have been thinking that when we partake of holy communion, we are not only connecting oneself to the Risen Christ but also to the primal light of creation.  Somehow I am starting to realize there is a creational pattern of not only the first seven days but all through the Bible in ways we have yet to discover or contemplate.  Somehow when we enter into the Eucharist, we are entering mystically into a deeper revelation of Creation even if we consciously don't realize or understand it.  This is another place where heaven and earth intersect and we enter into becoming a new creation as God is making all things new.

4.  There has been these words of a Christian song that have been stuck in my head.  The chorus goes "Love came down and rescued me."  I am starting to meditate on the idea of the many ways heaven itself is coming to earth to rescue us.  When we have dreams and visions from heaven, heaven is rescuing us.  When Muslims see visions of Jesus and turn to Christ by the thousands, heaven is rescuing us.  When we enter another world, a heavenly dimension whether in worship or study of God's Word, or by prayer, heaven is rescuing us.

5.  Somehow the old and new are colliding together.  The Older Testament is colliding with the Newer Testament.  The ancient Eastern or Catholic Church is colliding with contemporary Christians.  My German heritage and roots are colliding with Christian mystics from the past and present.  As I read old books and new books, God is bringing forth treasures old and new and I am full of praise and perplexed all at the same time.  The old creation and the new creation are coming together.  Maybe this is what it means to be witnesses of the resurrection of Christ today?