G. Ernest Thomas

Author Thomas has created six brief biographies of "20th century mystics," with the emphasis on their spiritual practices. Included are Rufus Jones, a Quaker and a professor of philosophy; Albert Schweitzer, theologian, philosopher, physician and medical missionary; Glenn Clark, professor of literature, athletic coach and author of books on prayer; Peter Marshall, Presbyterian minister and twice chaplain of the U.S. Senate; Frank C. Laubach, a Congregational Christian missionary who developed a literacy program that has taught more than 60 million people to read in their own language; and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor who was executed by the Nazis in 1946 for his anti-Nazi activism, including participating in a plot to assassinate Hitler.

What I had hoped to find was a clearcut definition of a mystic, but instead I found a description of six men who are generally accepted as examples of Christian mystics. With the exception of Bonhoeffer, they each followed a daily practice. Executed at age 39, Bonhoeffer's daily communion with Spirit was not structured by schedule or habit, or even a yearning to grow closer to the Divine; the only companion in his prison cell was his God.

As would be expected, prayer was the cornerstone of the relationships these men had with the Divine Presence. Another common thread was surrender: each spoke of his surrender to God's will and the experience of a call to service. All began their communion with Spirit in childhood, and all sought to know God experientially. Laubach was the only among them who seemed to strain to establish his divine connection. He experimented with various methods of reminding himself to align his will with God's will, and his efforts were rewarded. Approaching the age of 50, he wrote in his journal:

How infinitely richer this direct first hand grasping of God himself is, than the old method which I used and recommended for years, the reading of endless devotional books. Almost it seems to me now that the very Bible cannot be read as a substitute for meeting God soul to soul and face to face. (p. 41)

The author says of Laubach that "He convinced those who knew him that he was on intimate terms with God" (p. 49). And perhaps that is the definition of a mystic, however subjective it may be: one we are convinced is on intimate terms with God. To self-identify as a mystic, then, would be someone who is convinced that s/he is on intimate terms with God. There are no external means of verifying the status. Only God knows.… (mais)