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According to Cynthia Bourgeault in her book Mystical Hope: Trusting in the Mercy of God, mystical hope is:
1. Mystical hope is not tied to a good outcome, to the future. It lives a life of its own, seemingly without reference to external circumstances and conditions.
2. It has something to do with presence--not a future outcome, but the immediate experience of being met, held in communion, by something intimately at hand.
3. It bears fruit within us at the psychological level in the sensations of strength, joy and satisfaction: an "unbearable lightness of being." But mysteriously, rather than deriving these gifts from outward expectations being met, it seems to produce them from within.
Bourgeault, Cynthia, Mystical Hope: Trusting in the Mercy of God. Cambridge, Massachusetts; Cowley Publications, 2001. 9-10.
This is a reminder for me to sit in quiet meditation daily. Through such prayer, I am more able to live in the present moment and not worry about whether or HOW I am contributing to the future.
I am grateful to my friend Louise who pointed this out to me last week.
1. Mystical hope is not tied to a good outcome, to the future. It lives a life of its own, seemingly without reference to external circumstances and conditions.
2. It has something to do with presence--not a future outcome, but the immediate experience of being met, held in communion, by something intimately at hand.
3. It bears fruit within us at the psychological level in the sensations of strength, joy and satisfaction: an "unbearable lightness of being." But mysteriously, rather than deriving these gifts from outward expectations being met, it seems to produce them from within.
Bourgeault, Cynthia, Mystical Hope: Trusting in the Mercy of God. Cambridge, Massachusetts; Cowley Publications, 2001. 9-10.
This is a reminder for me to sit in quiet meditation daily. Through such prayer, I am more able to live in the present moment and not worry about whether or HOW I am contributing to the future.
I am grateful to my friend Louise who pointed this out to me last week.
2 comments:
I have this book, haven't read it in a long while....will need to go back to it.
Thank you for this, Jan. I am awaiting an outcome (search and call) and sometimes find it hard to hope. Usually I'm more of a 'rebel' than this - to quote Wendell Berry - 'joyful though I have considered all the facts'.
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