Growing Into God

Growing Into God:

A Beginner’s Guide to Christian Mysticism

By John R. Mabry

1700 Shattuck Ave. #81 Berkeley, CA 94709 510-290-4349 [email protected]

Mabry | Growing Into God 2

Some of the mystics’ biographies are adapted from Heretics, Mystics & Misfits by John R. Mabry (Berkeley: Apocryphile Press, 2004). All rights held by the author and used by permission.

All scripture quotations from the New Revised Standard Version, unless otherwise identified. Mabry | Growing Into God 3

OTHER BOOKS BY JOHN R. MABRY

Faithful Generations: Ministry for the Five Generations Alive Today

Salvation of the True Rock: The Sufi Poetry of Najat Ozkaya

Sermons That Connect: A Beginner’s Guide to Crafting and Delivering Powerful, Excellent Sermons

The Kingdom: A Berkeley Blackfriars Novel

People of Faith: An Interfaith Companion to the Revised Common Lectionary

The Way of Thomas: Nine Insights for Enlightened Living from the Secret Sayings of Jesus

The Monster God: Coming to Terms with the Dark Side of Divinity

Noticing the Divine: An Introduction to Interfaith Spiritual Guidance

Faith Styles: Ways People Believe

God Has One Eye: The Mystics of the World’s Religions

God is a Great Underground River: Articles, Essays, and Homilies on Interfaith Spirituality

I Believe in a God Who is Growing: Process Perspectives on the Creed, the Sacraments, and the Christian Life

Who Are the Independent Catholics? (with John P. Plummer)

Crisis and Communion: The Re-Mythologization of the Eucharist

Heretics, Mystics & Misfits

God As Nature Sees God: A Christian Reading of the Tao Te Ching Mabry | Growing Into God 4

Dedication

For my dear wife, LISA FULLAM for her tireless support (and because she “gets it”) Mabry | Growing Into God 5

Contents

Notes & Acknowledgements...... 00

Introduction...... 00 Chapter One: Awakening...... 00 Chapter Two: Purgation ...... 00 Transition: Dark Night of the Senses ...... 00 Chapter Three: Illumination...... 00 Transition: Dark Night of the Spirit...... 00 Chapter Four: Union...... 00 Conclusion: This Tradition Belongs to You...... 00

Questions & Answers...... 00 The Mystics, in their Own Words ...... 00 Spiritual Practices ...... 00

Appendix A: The Mystic’s Journey in Liturgy & Tradition...... 00 Appendix B: The Mystic’s Journey & Spiritual Development Theory...... 00

References ...... 00 Index...... 00 Mabry | Growing Into God 6

Notes & Acknowledgments

This book began—as so many of my books do—in a fit of frustration over the lack of appropriate materials for a class I was teaching—specifically a Christian Mysticism class at John F. Kenney University in Pleasant Hill. It arose directly from my sympathy for my students, who had to wade through nearly 400 pages of Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism. Now, don’t get me wrong, Mysticism is a classic, a masterwork, an unparalleled document in the field of world mysticism. It’s also one difficult read. It is, by turns, sublimely evocative and maddeningly opaque. It is also written in a stilted early-twentieth century style with one foot still firmly planted in Victorian academia, which is a friend to nobody. Thus, it was my intention to adapt Underhill, to create a reader-friendly version of Mysticism. My debt to Underhill, therefore, is enormous. I claim little wisdom of my own, Evelyn Underhill is my master, and I feel privileged to have been able to sit at her literary feet. If you like this book, I recommend you turn next to its inspiration and source, and pick up a copy of Mysticism. You won’t be sorry. You’ll also note that I have quoted some of Underhill’s more outstanding lines from this book as quotations from the mystics, placing her among their august number. This is, I think, entirely appropriate, as she was a practicing Anglican, and a very mystical soul indeed. Her feast d