1	Ministering to Mystics A Not Too Scientific Account
2	Many Roles Those who are asked to serve as ministers to people with mystical experiences do not have one role but many.
3	Ecclesial Roles Much of work with people with mystic experience is determined by one’s own churches general understanding of ministry. For most Christian churches, this means the regular ministry of Word and Sacrament or Ordinances.
4	The Stabilizer Word and Sacrament are often particularly important to many mystics for two reasons: Word and Sacrament provide the language, including the symbols, that can help mystics formulate their experiences. Often Word and Sacrament can provide needed stability for those who have intense spiritual lives. Word and Sacrament are especially important in the Dark Night of the Soul where God appears to be absent.
5	The Listener Many people who have mystical experiences in the modern world have difficulty accepting those experiences. Are my experiences a sign of mental illness. Do these things happen to normal people. I am not even sure that I believe in God; why should I have such experiences.
6	Not Judges Listening does not mean judging what people tell you about their lives Listening does not mean not have an option about what people tell you about their lives and experiences.
7	Validation Few mystical experiences need validation. One of the marks of mystical experiences, in fact, seems to be that they are self-validating. The most important thing is to help a person realize that their experience is one that other people share.
8	Multiple Theologies Interestingly, similar experiences often can have several theological interpretations. I.e. Sarah Edwards’ experience which she and her husband interpreted in terms of Calvinism is almost identical with Teresa’s experience which he interpreted in terms of Catholicism. Be open to helping a person find a theological voice that suits, not only the experience, but their whole style of life.
9	Theological Styles Theological and philosophical styles vary according to: Social location Political and social commitments Philosophic interests and backgrounds Personal tastes Family history.
10	Maintaining Resources The most important gift you can give someone struggling with interpreting their experiences are resources that help them to understand their lives: The writings of other mystics or philosophers Readings that illustrate the spiritual journey Poetry and Music
11	Serving as A Spiritual Guide You cannot lead anyone deeper than you have gone yourself. To serve as a spiritual guide is to be honest about one’s own experience. Humility is never out of fashion. If you are not sure that you have the depth to help, you probably don’t.
12	Learn to Share Be willing to share your own experiences, if any. Remember that one’s own experience is not the norm for others. To be called to share is not to be called to shape. One fulfills the compulsion to tell the world by telling the world, not by controlling the world.
13	Shared Truths God has been around for a very long time and has spoken with many people in many cultures and many historical circumstances. If so, neither the person that you are directing nor yourself has received a message that does not have some common elements and understandings with other’s experiences.
14	No Quick Fix Avoid the temptation to offer quick fixes to spiritual dilemmas Spiritual growth may be marked by extraordinary events, visions, illuminations, etc., but those seeds require years to become mature plants. Meditation techniques are not the key to spiritual growth, no matter how useful they may have been or be in one’s own experience. Think about the people in your Yoga or Zen class/
15	Mysteries Be sure not to strip people’s lives of mystery by explaining too much. Help people realize that mystical experience, whether that of ascent or affect, always has its high and its low points. To embrace the mystic way is to embrace both as the gift of God.
16	Alone Almost all mystical writings echo Plotinus statement that the experience is the flight of the alone to the Alone. Most mystical writers, however, also assert that the mystic is the person who finds a new sense of vocation and life through their experiences. Love is often the means and the goal of mystical life.