In Response to a Blog at: Anamchara.com
Carl,
You are right. While Community appears to be antithetical to Mysticism, the two are inexorably entertwined. As much as I like a simply said and intimate mass, I admit that I get impatient at the more elaborate masses that seem ponderous, with the somtimes lame and often repeated sermons. Some sermons actually energize me, some services are consistent, others are all over the place.
I know I can count on my own stillness to be the gateway to my relationship to the Holy Trinity.
I still believe we need community because none of us holds all the pieces of the Christian spirituality. We each of us pray for those and hold those up who do not hold our piece, and vice versa. (I got this one from a sermon on Sunday).
We have to realize that surrender also means being willing to depend on others, trust that the greater community actually binds us and makes us holy, as you said.
This is a point with which I have struggled in my studies and mystical understandings and practice. In the end a true mystic is humble, willing to surrender to the lower self, and can still participate and contribute to the community. Padre Pio comes to mind. What a great example to illustrate this point!
Bill
