Greetings and blessings.

I will explore in this blog many themes, with the intent to see how they nourish and inform each other. Two of these broad themes are:

• Mysticism and Spirituality
• Enchanted nature and the natural world

These two subjects will be explored in the light of mysticism and spirituality in general. The aim is to explore and discover what deeper truths they hold. It’s my personal quest, it’s helpful to process my thoughts by writing, but it may also be of interest to others.

So to begin some reflections, let’s consider something interesting about the natural world.

At the heart of Nature, the natural world, we find Life. Materialist science has yet to explain the origin of life or even what it really is. Scientists cannot create life from base material, there always has to be something which is already alive. Every living thing, from trees to algae to slugs to eagles to humans, is animated by an essential something.

This something cannot be created, it can only reproduce. We gain it from our parents, who gained it from theirs, and so on back through history. When this breath or spirit of life leaves a body, it cannot be brought back. This life force cannot exist outside of physical bodies, as far as we know.

So what is this life force? Where does it come from? Is it in essence the same or different when it animates different species?

Ancient Hebrew writers called it the ruach, which we can roughly translate as breath or spirit. Other cultures today may call it chi, qi, prana, vijnana, nwyfre, vital energy, orgone energy, or many other names.

In the light of the Cosmic Christ who sustains all things, we could refer to it as the Christ-spirit. Or perhaps it is the Holy Spirit of God, the god who is the ground of all being. For in Him all things hold together (Col 1:17).

We will explore this concept in much more depth in future posts. But let us finish these brief reflections today by considering one more thing:

Since all living things are animated by this Spirit of life (or the life-giving spirit depending upon how you see it), this means that we are all in some way mysteriously related. The same Source gives life and continues to give life to all of us who are alive right now. Maybe this is why the ancient gnostics sometimes referred to God as The All.

Maybe if we can come into a greater consciousness of this Life giving spirit which enlivens us all, we will be a step closer to understanding the mystery of the Source of all life. Perhaps this self knowledge will lead us closer to God.

Ultimately, that’s an experience we have to seek for ourselves, then sharing the knowledge and wisdom we learn with others.

Peace and blessings.