What role does silence play in mysticism?

That’s the question that launches our conversation this week. Episode 16 is inspired by the recent release of The Little Book of Christian Mysticism, by Carl McColman. But rather than just focus on the new book, we decided to broaden the conversation in this week’s episode to a more general reflection on how silence and mysticism belong together — and influence each other.

We launch our conversation by looking at the problems connected with merely trying to define the word “mysticism” (and related terms  like “experience” and “spirituality”). From there we explore the connection between mysticism, mystery and silence.

“The Christian of the future will be a mystic — which is to say, a Christian who’s comfortable with silence, who’s comfortable with mystery, who’s comfortable with paradox and ambiguity, but who moves into all of that for the sake of love: the love of the Divine, and the love of one another.” — Carl McColman

Our conversation considers how mysticism is misunderstood by both the academic world the world of “pop” spirituality, how mysticism can make a difference even in the context of the institutional crisis in the church today, and how mysticism can be meaningful to the ordinary person today — leading to the radical (but ancient and orthodox) teaching of deification or divinization — what Saint Peter called being “partakers of the Divine nature.”

In our conversation, we explore who are some of Carl’s favorite mystics, how the women mystics of the Middle Ages need to be acknowledged as courageous heroines of the faith, and which mystics ought to be declared doctors of the church.

“Experience is the beginning of mysticism... People will say ‘I am drawn to mysticism because I want an experiential faith.’ I think that’s great! But let that be your starting point, and not your ending point. If the experience of God is the beginning of mysticism, then God’s encounter with you is the end of mysticism.” — Carl McColman

Some of the resources and authors mentioned in this episode:

Carl McColman, The Little Book of Christian Mysticism

Maggie Ross, Writing the Icon of the Heart

Pseudo-Dionysius, The Divine Names and the Mystical Theology

Carl McColman, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism

Carl McColman, Befriending Silence

Carl McColman, Answering the Contemplative Call

Jacques Derrida, A Derrida Reader

John of the Cross, Collected Works

Meister Eckhart, Selected Writings

Anonymous, The Cloud of Unknowing

Don Cupitt, Mysticism After Modernity

Karl Rahner, Concern for the Church

Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer

Julian of Norwich, The Showings of Julian of Norwich

Thérèse of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul 

Mother Teresa, Come Be My Light

Teresa of Ávila, The Book of My Life

C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Thomas Merton, Dialogues with Silence

Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel

Evelyn Underhill, Practical Mysticism

Caryll Houselander, Essential Writings

John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Divine Milieu

Dorothee Soelle, The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance

Bernard of Clairvaux, Selected Works

George Maloney, Inward Stillness

Douglas Steere, ed., Quaker Spirituality

Augustine, The Confessions of Saint Augustine

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

Hildegard of Bingen, Selected Writings

Marguerite Porete, A Mirror of Simple Souls

Hadewijch, The Complete Works

Catherine of Siena, The Dialogue

Catherine of Genoa, Purgation and Purgatory; The Spiritual Dialogue