Music by Flobots
Video/Typeography by d9studios

If there is one spiritual writer who could be labeled the most tragically overlooked author by Evangelical Christianity today, it would be Andrew Murray.  Unfortunately, only a rare few of his books are still published by large publishers; most are hidden behind the dated covers of Whitaker House Publishers. If I could read only five authors for the rest of my life, he would be one of them.  Murray speaks with the voice of a mystic, persistently reminding us that only through the inward life of prayer does the outward life of action have true meaning.

The place and power of prayer in the Christian life is too little understood.  As long as we view prayer simply as the means of mainting our own Chrisitan lives, we will not fully understand what it is really supposed to be. But when we learn to regard it as the highest work entrusted to us- the root and strength of all other work- we will see that there is nothing we need to study and practice more than the art of praying.  — With Christ in the School of Prayer

Check out Project Gutenberg for free e-texts and audiobooks by Andrew Murray.

There’s a natural mystic blowing through the air -
I wont tell no lie;
If you listen carefully now you will hear.

– Bob Marley

Mystic is a word that is bound to raise eyebrows in your local mainline denomination church.  It’s even hard to find many Pentecostals that really like the term.  I, however, am entranced by it.  I have always been drawn to the mystics:  Henri Nouwen, Anthony de Mello, Andrew Murray, Soren Kierkegaard, Fydor Dostoevsky, Antoine de Saint Exupery,  Francis of Assisi, Thich Naht Hanh (the Zen Mystic), GK Chesterton (the Intellectual Mystic).  The words of these pierce me.

I used to believe that the mystics were gone.   Now, I realize that they have always been gone.  This is because the mystic is hardly noticed when he is present, because his wisdom is regarded as simple or idealistic.  The mystic has never had anything new or exciting to say. He is only a link to things forgotten, the rediscoverer of the old, overgrown path.  He says only that which we already know, but choose to forget.  The mystic speaks of solitude, awareness and discipline.  Our lives are dictated by noise, haste and impulse.  Today’s Gospel, the Gospel of the Evangelical, is an attempt at controlling the noise, the haste, and the impulse.  The Gospel of the Mystic is a letting go of these things and an embrace of their antithesis.  The message of the Evangelical is how to be “better”.  The message of the Mystic is how to be.

Theology: The art of telling stories about the divine.  Also the art of listening to them

Mysticism: The art of tasting and feeling in your heart the inner meaning of such stories to the  point that they transform you.

– Anthony de Mello

Revisiting a Chesterton quote that I love.

“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”

GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy

I have a few (relatively) harmless addictions.  One of them is National Public Radio.  This American Life is the type of program that get me excited about radio.  It makes it very easy to envision my grandparents and great-grandparents huddling around an antique radio, waiting in anticipation.   Back in May, I heard a very interesting episode of TAL titled “The Giant Pool of Money” centered around what was then dubbed the “housing crisis”.  The reporters who collaborated on this project then went on to develop their own daily podcast that discusses the economy in a laid back, jargon-free atmosphere called Planet Money.  In keeping with my “jack of all trades, master of none” persona, keeping up with the global economy has become yet another hobby.   If it interests you at all, I highly recommend the Planet Money Podcast. (Their webisite is linked at the image above, you can also find them on iTunes).  Also, if you, like me, are a little worried about where $700 billion in tax dollars are going, check out BailoutSleuth.com.  Bailout Sleuth was put together by none other than eccentric billionaire Mark Cuban, founder of Broadcast.com, HDNet TV, and owner of the Dallas Mavs.  With money from his absurdly deep pockets, Cuban has hired a team of reporters and investigators to keep up with the way that the government is spending our tax dollars.  Incidentally, there is a great interview with Cuban on the Planet Money Podcast.