Willingness versus Will-fullness.
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"I know now how to do it.  I know where I made my mistakes.  This time it will be better!"

"God helps those who help themselves!"

"If all else fails, then I will give the God thing an try."

"I am a mighty warrior for God!  Look at all the things I have done!"

This is really a problem area for me.  It is.   I have two choices that seem, on the surface, to be contradictory.

I can be Willing.

You have all heard it.  Just wait upon the Lord.  Seek for those signs.  Wait for God.  Be available.  Be willing.

Yet, how?   I mean, do I just show up at church events, Sunday school,  and sit on the pews waiting for God to use me?  How about walking out into the center of town, and sit on a bench in the park and just wait for something to happen.  I know, let me go and sit in a chapel in a hospital and wait for God to instruct me on what to do.  I will need to reorganize my schedule.  Nothing should get in the way of my availability for God right!  I mean, I can put off that vacation and volunteer right?   I can't start anything because I don't know if it is God inspired or God's will.   I can't make a mistake.  What if it is just my will?

Lots of what ifs.  Lots of passivity.  Lots of fears of making the wrong move, so I wait until God moves first.

Yes, I know this is unrealistic.  It is taking willingness to a whole new level.

The assumption that Willingness begins from is that we need to be viilant, available, aware, and willing to do God's will when we see it in our lives.  As you can see, it can degrade into a passivity with life in general.  It becomes an excuse to not do things.  To not try.

Let's look at will-fullness taken to the same level.

I can be will-full.

"Just do it"

"Go for gold"

"God or Bust!"

There is a part of me who sees something that should be done and wants to do it.  Very little planning or rational thought goes into this.  Sometimes I just jump.   Later, when I am way over my head I ask the questions like "Wasn't this what God wished for me to do?  I mean I was helping people after all.   Sounds like it was God's will."

The underlying assumption in being willfull is that we are an active partner with God and therefore we don't have to wait for inspiration, but just begin to do something.  I have nothing against this assumption.  Sounds pretty good.  But just like "Willingness" described above, it can lead to a life based on action and not contemplation.  Asking how God fits in after plunging in.  Making sure that God is still in our corner, when the boxing gloves come off.

Now both being Willing and Willfull have their place.  In fact, this whole Christian journey wouldn't get very far without them.

Willingness allows us to see the needs in the world; and gives us the possibility that it may be us who may address these needs.   Otherwise, we are armchair Christians, mouthing the words about that needs to be done but doing nothing.

Will-fullness provides the power, the motivation, the drive to act on those perceived needs.   God did not create us with no will at all.  We have the power to make decisions, to take action.  We can do.

Yet, both of these are necessary to counterbalance the other.

Our willingness may be there to change our minds about the course we have started (we have willed).  Perhaps it is a path which is better for us and the world than the one we acted on.  We have to be open to this possibility.  We need to be willing to reevaluate.

We also need to be will-full to check the tendency to remain static, or even paralyzed in making a decision about what to do.  We need the motivation to act on new circumstances.  To change our path when necessary.

Our willingness introduces us to where we can be useful, and our will acts on it.  Both necessary.  Both harmful when taken to an extreme.

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.