Orthodoxy and the Mystical Life

Before I became Orthodox, I was very interested in what is commonly called "mysticism."  In fact, my reason for seeking out Orthodoxy in the first place is because I had read - and it usually wasn't any Orthodox writer who wrote this sort of thing - that Orthodoxy was a Christianity that hadn't lost its understanding of mysticism.  Or that it was a Christianity that was full of mystics.

In a way, all of this is true, and in a way it's not.  Once you actually begin to practice Orthodoxy (the Church is - or should be - as much about Orthopraxy as it is Orthodoxy), however, you realize that perhaps the word "mysicism" really shouldn't be used that often.  In fact, you will find very few - if any - writers/priests/Holy Fathers of the Church that use(d) this word.  Instead, the word that is used is "mystical."

The Divine Liturgy is a mystical service.  It is a form of worship that takes you out of time, space, and the temporal world (at least that's what it's meant to do).

The sacraments of the Church are mystical in the sense that they are not something that the rational mind can explain or comprehend.

The sacrament of the eucharist - the sacrament in which the entire service of the Divine Liturgy is centered - is the ultimate mystery.  That the bread and wine becomes the Body and Blood of Christ is a mystery that in no way can be understood by the intellect.

So, as you see, there is plenty of the mystical and there is plenty of mystery in the Orthodox Church.  Which leads me back around to the title of this entry in the first place.  Orthodoxy really isn't about mysticism, but it is about living the mystical life.

Recently I was reading a piece by Father Stephen Freeman, and I would like to paraphrase it here.  I think it sums up best what I am discussing.

He said that Orthodoxy is not a religion.  A religion is a "belief system," and Orthodoxy is not a belief system.

Nor is Orthodoxy a faith.  We have faith.  Faith is something that we possess.  Faith is - to quote the existenial philosopher Soren Kierkegaard - like "floating in 50,000 fathoms of water."  But Orthodoxy is not a faith.

So what is it then?  Orthodoxy is a life lived in Christ.  It is not a life lived about Christ, or a life of Christ, but it is a life in Christ.

And to live in Christ is to live in the Ultimate Mystery.