Miscellany

Much of the visual and literary content of Anselm’s Quest comes from my own experience of mystical states of being. None of these were sought by me, and most of them I took for granted until I entered university late in life. There I heard lectures that treated Christian mysticism as a subject for serious study. At first, this meant I should analyze my experiences in the light of reason and reconcile them with a Western cultural world view that is, for rational people, largely based on science.

Further analysis came later, when I realized they would also have to be reconciled with Christian theology, both Eastern and Western.  Theology is the critical study of “the nature, attributes, and governance of God,” according to one Oxford dictionary definition. My ongoing research is partly about bringing scientific and theological perspectives together into a harmonious whole.

Sharing versus selling:

The internet has given a lot of clever folks the opportunity to make good money. They create a “personal brand” to sell products, like online courses and ebooks, to eager buyers who want to do the same thing. That is not the purpose of Anselm’s Quest, but I have borrowed some of their techniques, because I want to persuade you of the benefits of beginning your eternal life sooner rather than later. This knowledge is beyond price.

If and when the website expenses become too much for me to carry on my own, I will see about affiliating with Abebooks. It is the primary source for the books in my personal library, many of which are no longer on store shelves. This would mean that when you click through from a book I recommend to the Abebooks website, a small commission on what you buy will come to me. If this happens, I will send subscribers an email advisory, and this website’s FTC notice will reflect the change.

My benefit proposal and the mission poem:

Marketers call it a brand slogan and/or value proposition. It’s what you get for taking the time to read my blog.

I think benefit proposal is a better term. It takes the commerce out of something that is the very opposite of commerce. In other words, it’s more about sharing knowledge than repackaging and selling it. Disclosure: The quest for understanding, for a vision of God that makes sense to you, doesn’t demand money, but it does demand your life.

My benefit proposal comes from an inspired poem written out of a mystical experience when I was only seventeen. Like many teenagers, I wrote a lot of poetry. Most of mine was  pretty bad, arising more out of raw, emotional angst than disciplined craft. The mission poem was different. It came out of the blue, the inspired word of God transmuted imperfectly into words by my limited vocabulary and education at the time. It is therefore very anthropomorphic, meaning it applies human qualities to something, in this case, God.

Nevertheless, it did its work in my subconscious. Decades before I knew what a mission was, I internalized the command to live and grow. I have lived fully in every sense of that word, from misspent youth to maturing adult. It took time to realize that working hard and partying harder were not what the poem means by living fully. Growing meant widening my horizons in body, mind, and spirit, as well as striving for a healthy, balanced lifestyle. There are no earthly riches or experiences I would be willing to take in return for those of the quest.

Anatomy of a logo

Like any other public enterprise, a website needs a logo, a simple graphic symbol people can easily recognize and associate with that website. Often these logos are the product of graphics software, hard-edged, with an almost machine-like production quality. For Anselm’s Quest I wanted something quite different, easy to recognize but more painterly. Anselm, after all, lived long before the digital age.

The Anselm logo is in essence a map of mystical states, made by comparing my own experiences with written accounts going back thousands of years. The research presents problems:

• Older works and collections were often incomplete.
• Language varied with time, culture, and education.
• Writers facing prison or death for heresy wrote with caution.

Because I know the full range of these states, it is easier for me to place them on a spectrum. This ranges from consciousness being the least “removed” from the physical body and the surrounding world, to a state in which consciousness is completely “obliterated.” Some of my research is focused on the causes of the various states and the effect on the body.

Some brief notes about mystical experience:

The following will be of interest only to those who would like to know more about Christian mysticism as a phenomenon.

Although for a brief period I mentioned that I was a “mystic” to a few people following a spiritual director’s advice, it is not how I define myself. Mystical events have always “just happened” since I was very young. In a way, once they do, they are always with me, so although they have led to great changes in my life for the better, I don’t go looking for them. There would be little point, since by definition they come through God’s grace.

Where I find joy and richness in life is in trying to live according to the teachings of Jesus, especially as these are recorded in the Gospels and the works of St. Paul. Being an ordinary person with a full share of flaws, that’s an ongoing struggle, but the rewards here in this life are many. I feel healthier, happier, more loving of those different than I am, and less distrustful than in my younger years. This brings with it peace of mind and freedom from a lot of the snares that trap people in lives they really don’t like. Interestingly, as time goes on, these changes make me more aware of God as a steady presence, rather than seemingly disconnected mystical events interrupting an ordinary life.

If anything, I would define myself as an artist and a student. Graduation did not mark the end of my studies, but the beginning of a new phase of research. Writings about the phenomenon of mystical experience, called mysticism since the eighteenth century, would fill a few large libraries. These notes are a mere nanofragment of what is available to those who wish to learn more about it.

The most comprehensive overview of Christian mysticism can be found in Bernard McGinn’s superb historical series, The Presence of God: The Foundations of Western Christian Mysticism. These are challenging works to read, but the first volume, The Foundations of Mysticism, is an ideal starting point for anyone who reads at the university level but who is new to the subject. As Dr. McGinn’s title states, mystical phenomena are experiences of God’s immediate presence. This is different than a belief that God is present. Briefly, here are a few of my own conclusions, based on research and personal experience:

God’s known presence is a different event than, for example, “union” through meditation.

• The difference is in both degree and kind.
• The first happens through grace; in other words, God’s initiative.
• The second involves an element of human initiative.
• The two kinds may share a common border, but remain essentially different.

The stronger the presence of God, the weaker the influence of human physical senses.

• Some events, like visions and spoken words, have a strong sensory element.
• Other events are largely or completely devoid of any sensory element.

All humans are born with the capacity to know God’s presence.

• This capacity is enabled or disabled by a combination of “nature” and “nurture.”
• In this respect it is like the phenomenon of creativity.
• Belief systems affect an individual’s interpretation of mystical events.

Awareness of God’s presence may be affected in a number of ways.

• Belief systems such as religion may enhance a person’s awareness of God.
• Belief systems such as scientism may obscure this awareness.
• Affluence dulls awareness; deprivation enhances it.
• Physical, mental, and emotional states may enhance or obscure awareness.

An event of God’s presence is initiated by God, but occurs through known processes.

• These processes are physical plus biochemical.
• They are consistent with the physical laws of the created universe.

Events of God’s presence are pervasive and universal.

• They are not limited to those known to human experience.
• They are the actions resulting from God’s will to good in the created universe.

Church community attitudes toward mystical experience differ widely.

• These attitudes range from quite positive to deeply negative.
• Some denominations deny the existence of Christian mysticism altogether.
• Positive attitudes should be based on informed scholarship.
• Negative attitudes are almost always based on incomplete knowledge.

If you have managed to wade through all these notes, you must really be interested in mysticism, and Christian mysticism in particular. Here are some references for further study; both are challenging works if you are unfamiliar with the subject matter:

Louth, Andrew. The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition: From Plato to Denys. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981.

McGinn, Bernard. The Foundations of Mysticism. [Vol. 1 of The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism.] New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1991.

Because I didn’t begin to study mysticism until university, my initiation into the field was a bit of a cold water bath. I began by reading many of the primary source works both the above writers draw upon. For that reason I only have one book in my personal library that might be considered a more accessible read. Rather than focusing on Christian mysticism, it covers the mystical traditions of the main world religions and belief systems. Here it is:

Oliver, Paul. Mysticism: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2009.

I will keep an eye out for more accessible books on this subject, and please feel free to email me with suggestions.