Last Exit Before Oblivion

"Write me another story," He asks. Gently, kindly, insistent.

Alex has done another installment on "The Mystic." More fantastic story. Do I believe it? Not really, but the reasons have more to do with my experience than with the story being fantastic. His version of mysticism sounds too much like 21st century culture-speak. In particular, he talks about people in the Mystic adopting some symbol of their belonging, as the early Christians were said to do with the sign of the fish.

I think that a real mystic would recognize the brand on another's heart, if he weren't so taken up with modern communication techniques. There's so much noise in today's society that people's senses are overwhelmed. They can't hear God speak to them, much less see the subtle sign of God's presence in another's life.

People look forward to a "24/7" connected world. I long for peace and quiet, away from telephones, radios, cars, airplanes, helicopters, stereos and all the other cacophonous junk of modern society. There's lots more talking going on but no more being accomplished. Peter Gabriel sings

You know the way that things go
When what you fight for starts to fall
And in that fuzzy picture
He writing stands out on the wall
So clearly on the wall

Send out the signals deep and loud

And in this place, can you reassure me
With a touch, a smile, while the cradle's burning
All the while the world is turning to noise
Oh the more that it's surrounding us
The more that it destroys
Turn up the signal
Wipe out the noise

Send out the signals deep and loud

Man I'm losing sound and sight
Of all those who can tell me wrong from right
When all things beautiful and bright
Sink in the night
Yet there's still something in my heart
That can find a way
To make a start
To turn up the signal
Wipe out the noise

Wipe out the noise
Wipe out the noise
You know that's it
You know that's it
Receive and transmit
Receive and transmit
Receive and transmit
You know that's it
You know that's it
Receive and transmit
You know that's it
You know that's it
Receive and transmit

There's a lot more transmitting than receiving going on. People see that happening, and talk louder. Which is signal, and which noise?

In my mind, mystics spend a lot more time listening than they do talking. They don't have time for silly games like dropping pieces of paper in an Internet cafe. They don't care about belonging. The one thing they care about is hearing God.

God gives each of us a seal. We are warded against the world's evil. The Holy Spirit is our guardian, our comforter, our teacher, and if we had ears and eyes we could see His presence in those people he has branded as his own. That would be the Sign of the Mystic.

There are many wonderful distractions. I don't have a TV because just about everything on there is corrupt and I don't want it in the house. There is good music, though, and games that challenge the mind, and stories written by sensitive authors who bring new knowledge. Movies, too, animations by Hayao Miyazaki and some well-told live action stories. Distractions all, and why not. Who says we have to be on-line all the time? It gets to the point of a problem when I use these to wipe out God's voice because I just don't want to hear what I expect him to say. "Loser. Deadbeat. Get up and do something for me."

That's not reality, no matter how much I think it is. What he says instead, assuming I have the noise level down far enough that I can hear him, is "I love you." Oh, how that sears me. Love can only be a lie, can't it? Turn up the noise. It's not real! I don't want it to be real.

I need it to be real. Jesus dying on the cross shows the reality of God's intensely focused, fierce and tender love for me. Sacrifice. This can also be used as a bludgeon: see what God has done for you? Now, don't you feel bad that you're not doing something similar? That's not God's point. God desires restoration more than blind duty, and mystics really try to go for the branded heart of it. Of course, clever graphic design is easier.