Mysticism begins when the totally transcendent image of God starts to recede; and there’s a deepening sense of God as imminent, present, here, now, safe, and even within me. In Augustine’s words, “God is more intimate to me than I am to myself” or “more me than I am myself.” St. Catherine of Genoa shouted in the streets, “My deepest me is God!”

So you must overcome this gap to spiritually know things and then, ironically, you’ll know that Someone Else is doing the knowing through you. God is no longer “out there.” At this point, it’s not like one has a new relationship with God; it’s like one has a whole new God! “God himself is my counselor, and at night my innermost being instructs me,” says the Psalmist (16:7). God is operating with you, in you, and even as you.

The mystics are those who are let in on this secret mystery of God’s love affair with the soul, with my soul in particular—and that God loves me uniquely. All true love gives us this sense of being special, chosen, and “like nobody else.” That is why we are so joyful in the presence of our lover, who mirrors us with a divine mirror.

Adapted from Following the Mystics Through the Narrow Gate
. . . Seeing God in All Things (CD, DVD, MP3)