I just received a new book (Amazon.com is my downfall!): The Big Book of Christian Mysticism: The Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality by Carl McColman. Too many of my favorite writer-speaker-teachers (Richard Rohr, Caroline Myss, Cynthia Bourgeault, Kenneth Leech) praised it for me to pass it up.
I flipped through it -- you know how it is when you have a new book, you have to hold it, smooth your thirsty fingers across the cover, and then make the pages go swissshh -- I flipped through it and "landed" on a little section entitled "The Liminal Christian." And I simply have to share some of it here:
"Throughout history, many great mystics lived on the margins of the church -- sometimes literally, sometimes metaphorically. The Desert Fathers and Mothers lived on the edge that separated civilization from the wilderness. Many great monastic orders chose remote locations for their homes, settling on the margins between church and society on the one hand, and the untamed forests, mountains, or even swamps on the other. Francis of Assisi rejected a posh life as an affluent merchant's son, choosing instead to live on the fine line that separated respectable religion from a life of poverty.
Julian of Norwich lived literally on the edge -- in a cell where she enjoyed solitude, but attached to a parish church where she participated in communal worship and provided spiritual direction to those who sought her guidance. Simone Weil, a Jewish philosopher who embraced Christian spirituality but refused to be baptized, never even fully entered the church, at least not sacramentally. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, as a paleontologist, inhabited the frontier between religion and science, while Thomas Merton, Bede Griffiths, and Swami Abhishiktananda were all called to live out their faith in the gray area between Christianity and the wisdom traditions of Buddhism or Hinduism . . . .
The fancy, Latin-based word that describes this place of 'inbetweenness' is 'liminal,' which means 'of the threshold.' I believe that the great mystics often lurked on the thresholds between institutional religion and the real (or figurative) wild places of the world. As liminal figures, they were in the best position to drink deeply from the well of Christian tradition, but also to express their relationship with God in a completely authentic way. They respected the sacraments and the graces of the church, but also truly loved and befriended those who, for whatever reason, remained outside the boundaries of organized religion.
It is not easy to live authentically in these liminal spaces . . . .
Many who feel a profound desire for God and hunger for the gifts of silence and solitude have ambivalent feelings toward the unexciting business of mainstream religion, with its endless committee meetings and pledge drives and cleaning days. Worse yet, they become frustrated with the often profound indifference (or suspicion) that many devout Christians show toward mysticism and contemplation. But these feelings don't release them from their need for a community in which to ground their contemplative journey. The call to contemplation includes an invitation to relate to organized religion in creative and unusual ways. You must discern -- through prayer and conversation with your soul friends or spiritual director -- what that means in your own spiritual life.
Your interest in mysticism and contemplation will not magically make membership in a faith community easier. In fact, it may even be a source of frustration as you try to relate spiritually to those whose religious values seem at odds with your own. For all its challenges and problems, however, the church provides a vital ingredient in the life of Christian mystical spirituality. Find the church that is right for you, and stick with it. Don't be limited by the church, but don't settle for any notion that religion and spirituality must somehow be at odds. Learning to navigate the tension between religion and spirituality, even if only within yourself, can be a crucial element in opening your mind and heart to the splendor of God's grace and presence" (151-153).
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