Author: Jay Forrest

Dr. Jay N. Forrest is an Ordained Interfaith Minister and Certified Meditation Teacher who guides others on the Mystic Way through contemplative teaching and interspiritual insight.Since becoming a Christian in 1983 and earning his Doctorate in Ministry, Jay has served within a rich range of Christian traditions—including Pentecostal, Charismatic, Baptist, Methodist, and Liberal Catholic churches—and provided compassionate care as a Hospice Chaplain.His journey has also led him through catechism studies with the Orthodox Church in America, minor orders in the Liberal Catholic Church, and over two decades of Buddhist study and practice. His path is one of depth, integration, and a lifelong dedication to the transformative power of spiritual practice.

Prayer and Style of Life

I think Fr. Stockton hit on a truth. He wrote in an article for the Australia journal Compass Theology Review the following:

“It became clear that there is a natural affinity between certain types of prayer and a certain style of life. There are stages or levels of mysticism where one is alone with God anyway and a person tends to enframe that in a mode of living.”

I think that hits on a deep truth that I have also realized. How.you pray molds how you live. Solitary prayer leads to a solitary life. Nothing could be more normal.

I find that being around people distracts me from the inner stillness, where I can sense the presence of God. It is not a feeling as much as an awareness. Not so much a knowing as a seeing.

Those called and ready to embrace solitude will find that solitude is not so much a discipline as a joy. There is an inner thirst for God, to be in His presence and be aware of His movings. It is a hermit’s greatest honor and their life’s passion.

What is Progressive Christianity?

Although there are groups calling themselves progressive Christianity, here, I’m not referring to those. Rather, I’m referring to Christianity that embraces critical scholarship, modern science, and a rational approach to Christianity.

The problem is that fundamentalist Christianity is living in the past. They’re living in past scholarship, past thinking, past ideas. But truth continues to unveil itself.

As scholarship has begun to investigate the origins of Christianity, we have begun to see that the commonly accepted understanding of Christianity is wrong. And that many cannot accept.

But the fact remains. That the Bible is not inerrant or invaluable. It is a human book like every other human book. So we must approach it differently than treating it as a Divine word that descended from the throne of God in pure form.

Yes, God inspired the people to write the Bible. I’m not denying that. What a denying is that the Bible is the direct word of God in pure form. Rather, it is a human attempt to put in human words, a Divine encounter.

So when I speak of progressive Christianity, I’m referring to a Christianity that embraces the facts as they are and tries to embody the love of God in today’s world. That means with the understanding of the world as we know it in the 21st century.

Of course, all that means that progressive Christianity is also inclusive. It is for diversity, inclusion and equity. Because all people, men, women and trans people deserve dignity, honor, and respect. There is no room for discrimination for yheart filled with truth and love for all.

What is Contemplation?

There has been a lot written on contemplation. But I’m afraid most of it adds more confusion than light.

Here I want to add more light than confusion, and make it simple to understand. In order to do that I might be oversimplifying it. But here we go.

Contemplation is God- consciousness. It is evidenced in stillness, peace, and sometimes ecstasy.

Now just so you know I am not making this up, Thomas Merton wrote, “Contemplation is, above all, awareness of the reality of that Source.” By Source, he means God. And awareness is another word for consciousness.

Society and Politics

The Desert Fathers of Egypt were the first hermits. They withdrew from society at the very time that society was being Christianized. As the church became popular, it compromised its standards. Those hungry for God flew into the desert to find a real encounter with the living God.

The Desert Fathers

As Thomas Merton writes about the Desert Fathers:

“These were men who believed that to let oneself drift along, passively accepting the tenants and values of what they knew as society, was purely and simply a disaster…. These men seem to have thought… that there is really no such thing as a ‘Christian state.’ They seem to have doubted that Christianity and politics could ever be mixed to such an extent as to produce a fully Christian society.”

Politics

People think politics is the answer, it is not. A country is only as good as it’s individual citizens. If what a better society, make better citizens. Changing the politicians doesn’t change people’s hearts.

Sick Society

A wise man once said, “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a sick society.” Our society is sick, because its citizens are sick. They have a fallen nature that twists all they think, say, or do. Sin is selfishness, and selfishness is the root of all moral evil.

The Mysticism of the Apostle Paul

Hekhalot and Merkavah are from an early form of Jewish mysticism. Hekhalot is the Hebrew word for Palaces and Merkavah Hebrew word for Chariot. Both refer to mystical experiences and visions of the Divine.

This was the mystical tradition that the Apostle Paul would have known and followed. I believe it formed the background for his own mystical experiences as recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 . Let’s read it from an early Jewish mystical perspective.

¹It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. ²I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. ³And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— ⁴was caught up into paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. ⁵On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. ⁶But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, ⁷even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. ⁸Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, ⁹but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ¹⁰Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

This is ascent into heaven, as recorded by the Apostle Paul, matches perfectly with early Jewish mysticism. And this may have happened during the trance recorded in Acts 22:17-21. Again, let’s quote the relevant part.

¹⁷“After I had returned to Jerusalem and while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance ¹⁸and saw Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ ¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. ²⁰And while the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing by, approving and keeping the coats of those who killed him.’ ²¹Then he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the gentiles.’ ”

This was the single most important event in the history of Christianity. For until Paul took the gospel to the Gentiles, the early Jesus movement would have been nothing more than a sect of Judaism. It would never have become a worldwide religion.

Therefore, the very essence of Christianity, it’s very hard, is mystical. Mysticism forms the foundation upon which Christianity stands, and must continue to stand. Which means that we have to call the church back to a spiritual reality, rather than an outward form.