Ordinary Mystics - Mark Chaffin

As a young person being discipled as a follower of Jesus I was introduced to the idea that all God’s children are ministers, lay and clergy alike. It was a new thought and one that expanded my sense of self and role as a believer. 


I had a new identity “in Christ” that came with a calling or vocation readymade. As Jesus’ person I was gifted and equipped to minister in a way that was uniquely my own. From the beginning the shape of my calling was to “befriend others in Jesus’ name.” The initial steps were somewhat uncomfortable but it was an identity I grew into.


With the passing of time, educational opportunity and growth in experience, my sense of vocation deepened and grew. The shape of my calling led to ordained ministry in the field of health care chaplaincy. In this work, first in hospice and then long-term care my sense of self and role again shifted and expanded. I was a healer, an instrument of God’s outpouring love and grace to bring “shalom” or wholeness to every person.


Just as I came to appreciate that we are all called to be ministers, so I have come to believe we are all healing agents in the kin-dom of God. Whatever the nature or location of our service to the Holy One we can see ourselves in this light.
In the course of my training as a spiritual director I had a profound and transformative experience that had the hallmarks of a mystical encounter with the ground of being.  I again felt an expanding sense of self and a new visionary purpose to fulfill as a contemplative, perhaps even as a mystic.  It should not be surprising, given the path of my journey that I have come to see that we are all meant to be mystics, ordinary, everyday mystics perhaps.


What has informed my view of ordinary mysticism for the common person has been my experience engaging as a deep listener to the stories of others. My preferred reframing of the term chaplain is “story catcher.”  To attend to and witness the stories of others, stories they are (sometimes) dying to tell is a deeply spiritual privilege. It also contains an element of the mystical as I will share.
Through the training of chaplain and Rabbi Sam Seicol I came to appreciate that what aids us in helping patients and anyone suffering dis-ease is to create a “spiritual moment” with them. A spiritual moment occurs when we “create a connection of heart, mind and soul with another.” This can be while playing on the floor with a toddler, or when gazing eye-to-eye and holding hands with an elder who has Alzheimer’s, or a thousand variations on this theme that afford deep connection person-to-person.


When Jesus says in John’s gospel, “I and the Father are one,” when he says “Abide in me and I in you,” I understand him to be describing a unitive, heart-to-heart spiritual moment or experience.  I also sense the mystical nature of this encounter. Any of us may share such moments of deep connection with the Holy, with our loved ones and neighbors, and with the more-than-human world to name just a few.
Would we were all blessed with the experiences of Mary Magdalene, Teresa of Avila, Howard Thurman, Meister Eckhart or Black Elk. But each of us are nevertheless called to and blessed to be ministers, healers and everyday mystics offering fellowship, healing and connection with those to whom Spirit enjoins us.  We may cultivate everyday experiences where the practice of deep connection of heart, mind, and soul can become a daily spiritual practice of the ordinary mystic.