“One key difference between mystics and all others is that the mystic is one whose spiritual eyes have been opened…and they have “seen.”  Mystics are in a state of Being rather than – like most others – seeking to become.  Mystics are our poets and artists, our intuitional, creative thinkers, our inventors and our saints (paraphrased from Marsha Sinetar).”

The way of the mystic is a Journey that amalgamates the inner and outer journey into one. This way of living is a way in which one demonstrates living, the work that one does, and the faith that one holds, are all synthesized into one. That is the way of the mystic.

The way of the mystic is a wondrous Journey. The very journey is the goal because there is no arrival. All the way is the way. And as it has been said by Saints, “All the way to Heaven is, in truth, Heaven!” However, the fleshing out – the incarnating—of the Already while living in the Not Yet is the defining Moment: the journey of a lifetime.

The Mystic represents the very Journey to, and of, awakening.

The mystic grows in desire for an illumination by God simultaneously as the inner self is transformed and transmuted (like a caterpillar into a chrysalis) into an Awakened Soul all the while pulling away from the tiny fingers of the small ego.

The way of the mystic is one where the mystic seeks to end the so-called separation between the inner and outer, the real and false…allowing all to become one in the All.

The mystic hungers to have total and complete awareness of the Presence of God at all times, in all things, and in all ways.

The mystic seeks to end the tyranny of time and space over intimacy with God in every moment.

The motto of the Benedictine Order – Ora et Labora – means “Prayer and Work.”  And based on my experience of the Benedictine Order, their life is not spent in Work and in Prayer, but rather their life is spent removing the “and” from their motto.  It’s not so much that they spend time praying and they spend time working: their work is prayer and their prayer is work.

And such is the mystic.  The mystic seeks to remove the “and” from between the spaces in life and in our hearts.
Mystics seek to remove the “and” from prayer, work, love, service. They seek to remove the “and” from indeed all of life and living.

And thus, All becomes One in the absolute awareness of the cohesion of God’s loving, created order.

— Niles Comer, www.paintedsoul.org