What a mystical experience feels like.

What a mystical experience feels like.

Let me first say that all people have mystical experiences.  No really.  They do.

A mystical experience is one in which you experience feelings, thoughts, sights, sounds that cannot be explained; or rather, are outside your realm of experience. 

Your first crush on someone was a mystical experience.  There were feelings that overwhelmed your heart.  Sensations that coursed through your body.  There was an overwhelming sense that you were plugged into something so much more powerful than you.  This is a mystical experience. 

For mothers and fathers, oftentimes the birth of their child is a wholly and singly powerful experience.  In a moment, their outlook, their feelings, their motivations, their thoughts, their entire contract with reality changes.  Some parents literally have a moment out of time.  Everything slows down; and what occurs is a suspended moment of bliss.   Indescribable joy.  Unlimited Love.  This is truly a mystical experience.

Though these experiences are not limited to those above.  You can have a mystical moment looking at a tree, reading a book, looking at a photo, listening to a song.  Remember the definition.  It is simply an experience that transports us to a place unknown and unexplainable.

So what is one of my mystical experiences?

I used to work at a summer camp.  It is a Lutheran camp that caught and held my heart and my service for my childhood, young-adult and college years.  Once I graduated, life took over and I did not go back, even for a retreat for 16 years.   Then I just decided one summer to volunteer for a week.  Here is where the mystical experience comes in.

This is the body of an email I wrote to a dear friend of mine after that experience. 
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"What can I even say about the 5 days I got to spend in among such wonderful and loving people in such a blessed place?

What I did was listen to people's stories...their moments with God; their contact with the seen and unseen; their love for each other; their service. With each interaction and each story, these people became the saints, the fellowship of all believers, the people of God. Truly, they were so filled with love and the richness of their experiences, that it was impossible not to fall in love with each and every one. The people there are the embodiment of what can happen when Love and Service become living things; part of the fabric and makeup of each one!

I slipped into that loving community, not as a stranger, nor outsider, but as a welcome friend. To the staff I was just another staff. To the campers, just another camper. To the pastors and sponsors, just another pastor.

I felt like no other time the physical presence of God. My being was attuned to another world. I could feel the emotions, the joys, the trials, the pains of other people there. I had empathy like never before. It was unbelievable.

And these people, these staff were of such quality, such richness that I was moved many a time to tears.

It was simply and life-changingly amazing!"

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I did forget to point out another characteristic of a mystical experience.   
After the experience, you feel more connected to something greater than yourself. 

If the mystical experience happens with people, you feel a greater sense of community.  The ties that were there are stronger, and new ties are forged.  If it is in solitude, the strands that tie nature, the world, your soul, your mind, your heart are strengthened.

With these characteristics in mind; remember the mystical experiences that you have had.