Category Archives: personal spiritual journey

Theoretical Christians

Posted on February 3, 2015 by theuncloisteredmystic

The fellow in the New Testament who buried his one talent worries me. The whole of this story is found in Matthew 25: 14-30. Basically, a rich merchant was going on a long trip. The merchant was entrusting a significant … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, personal spiritual journey | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Love and Marriage

Posted on December 16, 2014 by theuncloisteredmystic

It was supposed to be a sermon on marriage. I looked up and read about twenty-five scriptures on marriage. I looked at a couple of sermons on marriage. And then, I thought of the sermon preached at my own marriage … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Mysticism, Christianity, Kingdom of God, personal spiritual journey | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Truth in the Jail

Posted on June 22, 2014 by theuncloisteredmystic

The brazen truth The painful truth An inconvenient truth The whole truth and nothing but the truth The absolute truth A hard truth The peaceful, prescient, lovely truth The truth that passes understanding The unfiltered, unadulterated truth The ultimate truth … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Mysticism, Christianity, Jail Ministry, personal spiritual journey | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Jail Ministry

Posted on March 26, 2014 by theuncloisteredmystic

I am trying to come to a place where a new essay is posted every month. February is missing in action as far as publishing some new material. I did write an essay about the Blessed Virgin Mary, mostly writing … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Mysticism, Christianity, personal spiritual journey | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Story From the Jail Ministry

Posted on February 4, 2014 by theuncloisteredmystic

I have a story I’ve told to the inmates in the jail about a young man who lived in South Central Los Angeles. This young man’s name was Miguel. Miguel’s older brother was the head of a local gang and … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Jail Ministry, personal spiritual journey | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Our common life together: the public good

Posted on June 25, 2013 by theuncloisteredmystic

The twenty-five cent word for ‘the public good’ is commonweal. It seems to me that the commonweal is under threat. If the commonweal were a large piece of cloth (like those huge American flags you sometimes see at sports events) … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Fundamentalism, Christianity, personal spiritual journey, St. Francis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jesus looks at a sinner

Posted on May 28, 2013 by theuncloisteredmystic

There is a new entry at the bottom of the ‘About’ page if you want to know more about me. Sin is such an interesting topic. It has captured the attention of the greatest of Christian writers down through the … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Kingdom of God, personal spiritual journey, Sin | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

I see Him and He sees me

Posted on May 15, 2013 by theuncloisteredmystic

I’ve identified myself as a mystic but up until now haven’t tried to explain what God means to me in concrete terms. Explaining God is a difficult thing to do. The definition of a mystic is someone who has experiences … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Mysticism, Christianity, personal spiritual journey, St. Francis | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

St. Francis and Holy Poverty

Posted on August 5, 2011 by theuncloisteredmystic

Occasionally, because I’m a Third Order Franciscan in the Episcopal Church, I get asked to explain who St. Francis was and what he did. The following essay is something I’ve created to satisfy that request. There is a significant back-story … Continue reading →

Posted in personal spiritual journey, St. Francis | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Kingdom of God and a Prostitute Named Mary

Posted on June 21, 2011 by theuncloisteredmystic

A large number of books have been written about secret knowledge taught by Jesus to one disciple or another. This special knowledge and the conspiracy theories that surround the dissemination of the knowledge began shortly after Jesus’ death, with Gnostic … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Kingdom of God, personal spiritual journey | Tagged , , | Leave a comment