MYSTICISM;
COMMUNION WITH GOD

I refer to the evangelical mystic who has been brought by the gospel into intimate fellowship with the Godhead. His theology is no less and no more than is taught in the Christian Scriptures.… He differs from the ordinary orthodox Christian only because he experiences his faith down in the depths of his sentient being while the other does not. He exists in a world of spiritual reality. He is quietly, deeply, and sometimes almost ecstatically aware of the Presence of God in his own nature and in the world around him. His religious experience is something elemental, as old as time and the creation. It is immediate acquaintance with God by union with the Eternal Son. It is to know that which passes knowledge.

The hymns and poems found here [The Christian Book of Mystical Verse] are mystical in that they are God-oriented; they begin with God, embrace the worshiping soul and return to God again. And they cover almost the full spectrum of religious feeling: fear, hope, penitence, aspiration, the longing to be holy, yearning after God, gratitude, thanksgiving, pure admiration of the Godhead, love for Christ, worship, praise and adoration. The mood runs from near despair to near ecstasy, and the twin notes of utter sincerity and deepest reverence may be heard throughout.

Psalm 63:1–2; Ephesians 1:4–6; 1 John 1:1–3

The Christian Book of Mystical Verse, vi.