The Mystical Christ: Religion As a Personal Spiritual Experience

Mysticism is not a sect or a creed; it is a conviction, deriving its authority from the natural instincts of die human heart. The desire to know intensifies the rational faculties of the mind and the intuitive powers of the soul. The intellect approaches knowledge from the out side. It stands as an observer of the wonders of the universe, but it cannot experience what it discovers. The emotions do not exist or fulfill themselves on the impersonal level of rational procedure; they always de sire to possess or to be possessed. It is the way of the heart to ensoul knowledge, to bring dead things to life, and to bestow its own warmth and light upon the aloof ness of wisdom. Thus, as science seeks truth by imper sonalizing that which is personal, religion achieves the satisfaction of itself by personalizing that which is im personal.