Introduction

"We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen."

2 Corinthians 4:18

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In what way do "the heavens declare the glory of God"? And what does St Paul mean when he says

"from Him and through Him and to Him are all things"? And how can we join with St Peter in saying that "we are partakers of the Divine Nature" or knowingly sing in the Cherubikon that we "mystically represent the Cherubim"?

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These phrases are often understood as hyperbole. One can assume that these expressions are too grand to be considered literally and must be divorced from reality, reduced to either rhetoric or metaphor. The world of material finality is comfortable to the modern mind. We are told often that a material absolute is undeniable and that the universe is largely indiscernible. But as Christians, there is another way to engage with the world that encompasses both the realities intrinsic in creation and as well as those told in God's Word. This way is laid out for us in traditional Christian Mysticism, which marries together the reality experienced and reality revealed. 

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I will be writing a series of posts regarding Christian Mysticism from a specifically Orthodox perspective. I am not trying to exhaust any aspect of Christian Mysticism, but only to briefly introduce one then move along- consider these as breadcrumbs fallen from the table of feasting. I will also mention that in some cases, I may conflate or simplify a particular aspect of these ideas in an attempt to keep them short and digestible. Lastly, I am giving a layman's perspective, so my offerings on these subjects are not robustly analytical, but a joyfully contemplative. It is my hope that each short explanations will be like a separate beam of refracted light that brings clarity and color to the larger Orthodox tradition, and most of all, our Lord Jesus Christ.