Category Archives: Mystical

God Desires Us

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

“You can’t catch the Macdonald bus here,” a man says to me at the VCC-Clark Skytrain Station in Vancouver. “You need to go up to Clark.” I hurry up Sixth Avenue. It’s early Saturday morning and I need to get to … Continue reading →

Posted in Advent, Mystical, Poetry, Popular Posts, Stories | Tagged #22 Macdonald, Advent, Creation of Adam, Daniel Ladinsky, Esther Hizsa, He Desired Me Sio I Came Close, Love Poems from God, Sistine Chapel, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Teresa of Avila | 3 Comments

The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

I dream that I’m at an event in an unfamiliar place. I find a list of the seminars offered and choose one to attend. But when I go to check the room number, the schedule is gone. Now, what do … Continue reading →

Posted in Lent, Mystical, Stories | Tagged bad dream, dream, Esther Hizsa, feeling God's feelings, Psalm 42:7, Samuel T. Francis, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, The Deep Deep Love of Jesus, Tony Hisgett, Waves | 2 Comments

The Gardener

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

How powerless the soil is to produce anything on its own. I am praying with Jesus’s parable of the sower and the seed. I can relate. No matter how hard I try, those three unreceptive soils are in me, impeding … Continue reading →

Posted in Mystical, Popular Posts, Poverty of Spirit, Prayer, Praying with the Imagination | Tagged Burnaby, dependence on God, helplessness, Madison Murphy, Mark 4:1-20, Michael Cook, Night Prayer, Noon Prayer, parable of the soils, SoulStream, SoulStream noon prayer, Sower and the seed, Sower with Setting Sun, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Vancouver, Vincent van Gogh | Leave a comment

Christ In Me, With Me, For Me

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Esther Hizsa

This Advent God’s been inviting me to live in the reality that Christ is in me, with me, and for me. I noticed, when I undertook a task or wrote a post, that I was not alone. I felt accompanied as I … Continue reading →

Posted in Advent, Mystical | Tagged awareness, Christian.Rudman, David G.Benner, Holy Ground, Klezmatics, L'océan à Langland, Marie, presence, Presence and Encounter, self-preoccupation, stillness, Woody Guthrie | 3 Comments

On This Mountain

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Esther Hizsa

Last week I talked about deadlines closing in on me. One of them was SoulStream’s Living from the Heart course. It would be my first time co-facilitating a six-day intensive in spiritual formation, and I wanted to prepare well for it. Shortly before I … Continue reading →

Posted in Mystical, Prayer, Stories | Tagged 2 Corinthians 3;18, An Open Gate, bruised reed, Isaiah 25:6-9, Isaiah 42:3, Living from the Heart, Lodge at Twin Creeks, Nan C. Merrill, Psalm 122:1 & 2, Psalms for Praying, Rachel Hartland, smouldering wick, SoulStream, Transformation, unveiled faces | Leave a comment

God Present, as Promised

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Esther Hizsa

During a restless night, I felt like the Israelites again. All the things I have to do were advancing toward me with their sharp spears, while my heels backed into the Red Sea. The cold reality of deadlines lapped at my … Continue reading →

Posted in Mystical | Tagged anxiery, deadlines, flow, Rainer Maria Rilke, Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, river, Rushing Water, Simon Varwell, Tofino untouched, Tony Horabin | Leave a comment

Night Crossing

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Esther Hizsa

Imagine you are in your favourite place, the instructions for the prayer read. Perhaps it is on a beach or in a cosy cabin. What do you see, hear, feel, taste, smell? Are you alone or with others? After you have relaxed … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Mystical, Praying with the Imagination, Stories | Tagged Contemplation of Place, Ian hoar, Jessica Gardner, John 1:1-3, Kimmeridge, Nan C. Merrill, Night Sailing, Night Sky, praying with the imagination, Psalm 18:10, Psalms for Praying, Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh | 1 Comment

Just Be Still

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Esther Hizsa

“Be still, and know that I am God,” says the psalmist. Nearly every Thursday evening, our contemplative group gathers to do just that. Of course there is time for fellowship, reflection and songs, but we also pray in silence for … Continue reading →

Posted in Mindfulness, Mystical, Prayer | Tagged be still, centering prayer, Cloud of Unknowing, Ephesians 3;20, Jessie Wilcox Smith, Kelly Dycavinu, Knit Together, Moonbeams, Psalm 46:10, silent prayer, William Johnson | Leave a comment

Me and My Shadow

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Esther Hizsa

I am hesitant to confess this to you, because when I do, you will find evidence that it’s true. And where that leads, well, that makes me both nervous and hopeful. So here it is: I am pretty self-centred. I often put myself … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Mystical, Prayer, Stories | Tagged Daniel Bonnell, David Benner, Glimpse of and Angel, Lolowaro974, Me and My Shadow, Noon Prayer, self-centred, self-centredness, Shadows, snuggling up to God, SoulStream, Surrender to Love | 2 Comments

God, Here?

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Esther Hizsa

John the Baptist looks forlorn. I can almost hear him sigh. He is so discouraged by the Messiah, who isn’t what he expected, that he cannot see the beauty around him or the Lamb of God beside him. This painting has been … Continue reading →