November 14, 2026
Photo by Eva Michalkova
As mystics understand it, the interior life is not simply a life of private thoughts. They were—and are—attuned to the supernatural realm, and a world beyond the physical shapes their inner lives. The reality of God becomes so vivid and compelling that true mystics often give more attention to that world than to the one around them. Their interior world consists not only of thoughts but also of involvement with the Divine in every moment. They may see visions, encounter epiphanies, interact with spirits, and watch the secrets of heaven play out right before their eyes.
The spiritual world they experience is sometimes difficult for others to comprehend or even imagine. But it is the world they inhabit every day. Perhaps that is why many mystics have tried to describe the invisible, the ethereal, and the unearthly in concrete terms. For example, they have written of an interior mansion or castle, a ladder, an upward road, a crystal, or the tiers of a mountain, using familiar images to make the mysteries of the spiritual world more apprehensible. They frequently refer to steps taken in the pilgrimage to God, steps such as prayer, meditation, humility, self-denial, and purification of the soul.
The mystics shared their longing to enter and live in that unearthly reality because it offered a way to live beyond this world's futility and its needless suffering. And the reality of that world was more real than the one surrounding them physically. Their writings explained this other world and gave those of us in everyday life not only a glimpse into heaven but also a type of raised relief map of the spiritual realm.
We all have interior worlds. As we have reflected earlier this week, some of those worlds revolve around the ego, the superego, and the id — their strivings and concerns. We may be compelled to think about how others perceive us. Our interior life may be filled with self-analysis, planning, rumination, and self-assessment. Or our inner life may be caught in struggles with the inner critic, religious standards, and ideas of godliness. And some interior lives are secret worlds of private longings, fears, and preoccupations never spoken aloud.
Before the mystics were swept up in the mysteries of God, they must have lived with these ordinary human concerns, too. But once they were drawn into the spiritual world, an overriding passion gradually—or sometimes suddenly—came to guide their interior lives. That passion is the burning desire for union with God.
Most of us are not mystics. Yet if we seek to live a spiritual life, we are on the same road they traveled. We may not be desert mothers or fathers, mystics, or saints, but as we strive to realize the Divine within ourselves and to know the Divine Creator, we follow the same path as those who already have one foot—or even more—in heaven.
As we travel toward a greater awareness of the Divine within us and in the world, we may find ourselves devoting more and more of our interior lives to the spiritual. Bit by bit, the ego’s grip loosens. Its fascinations and attractions begin to fade, and we discover that the life force never flows through us more strongly than when we are living from our soul— tethered to the Divine within us.
Spiritual Practice
Read some sections from St. Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL). What do the images she explains bring into your soul?
Inquiry
What is the price to pay for entering a world we cannot fully comprehend? What is the possible benefit?
Prayer
Dear God,
I pray for union with You, and if I must open myself to worlds I cannot comprehend, I pray for the strength and courage to accept that reality, because it is Your kingdom.
Amen
