Posted on by Lois Stephens

The Mystic Embraces The Poet

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“She writes like a poet with the heart of a mystic”, states one well-known author of another.  The words tug at my heartstrings–those melodious tendons said to brace the heart.  I brace myself, and I imagine …

If only those words were said of me,

My heart would sing an unchained melody!

With unbroken rhythms of truth & grace,

I’d find myself in my happy place!

 Just kidding.  Not really.  LOL.

Searching for my singing heart’s motive, I ask the question, “What is a mystic anyway?”

I read the definition: “One who believes in the spiritual apprehension of truths that are beyond the intellect.”

For me, that definition is … close but no cigar.  Yes, I know, a rather every-day idiom to employ by a wannabe mystic such as myself, but please, allow me to explain!

The expression, “Close but no cigar” originates from the practice of fairground booths handing out cigars as prizes.  The phrase would be said to those who gave it a good try, but did not win the prize.

My faith is based on the radical belief that the Word behind all words in scripture has been made flesh.  That flesh, a man named Jesus, is Truth.  He’s the prize I get to spiritually apprehend; the full manifestation of All Truth that extends far beyond “my truths”—my human reasoning and intellect—and leads me into the higher realm of All Truth.

So I’m running my race for the prize—the prize of apprehending greater dimensions, not of truths, but of the Truth.  In the taking, the mystic embraces the poet within and something of value, something of worth, something life-giving appears.

In the taking, I center not on what is true about me, but what is Truth about me.  I choose the Way of Truth that brings Life, and I win every time.

~

Writing for me becomes a dialogue with the Spirit of God.  My heart’s response to scriptures whispering through my spirit.  This dialogue flows from John 14:6, “Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth and the life …”  May the dialogue continue in you… Love & Peace.

 

Posted on by Lois Stephens · 4 Comments

The Power of Story

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Jesus, the profoundly gifted storyteller.  He rarely told stories about God directly.  He often taught through parables.  I appreciate that aspect of his nature.  He knew how to capture the imagination.  He used creative ways to challenge, and even provoke, his listeners.

I believe that the Spirit of God still speaks through parables today.  And as a first century of the 3rd millennium, non-parable reading people, it may take some imagination, and it may take some work, but that’s what makes parables so beautiful.   We are invited into the story to take a lead part, if we so choose.  And in God’s wisdom, he leaves the moral of the story to each to determine for him or herself.

Do you have a story that challenged your way of thinking about something?  My writing often reflects those stories.  My story becomes His story, and I am transformed by the power of story.