In Praise of "Slow Mysticism"

A Gentle Sunrise Makes For a Better Awakening Than a Harsh Alarm Clock

All real progress in spiritual things comes gently, imperceptibly, and is the work of God. Our crude efforts spoil it… Think of the Infinite Goodness, never of your own state. Realize that the very capacity to pray at all is the free gift of the divine love. — Evelyn Underhill

Teilhard de Chardin famously wrote, “Above all, trust in the slow work of God.” Evelyn Underhill would have heartily agreed with him. We live in a culture that is slowly rediscovering the virtue of slowness. In our time more and more people are promoting “slow trends” like slow food, slow fashion, slow travel and slow design. Beneath the trendiness of terms like these is a throughline of desire: increasing numbers of people recognize that slow art, slow production, slow relationship building, and so forth, often lead to greater quality products and experiences. Like the old man says in Toy Story 2, “Art takes time!” Perhaps this is true of much more than art: and Teilhard and Underhill would both say it is particularly true of the spiritual life.

Many people see experience as the heart of mysticism — pointing to stories such as Moses and the Burning Bush, the Conversion of Saint Paul, Teresa of Ávila’s encountering the angel with a spear, and Thomas Merton’s street corner epiphany, as just four examples of how mystics are defined by their experience of God. But what about the many people who don’t see a burning bush or fall in love with everyone on the block? Are they somehow disqualified from living a mystical life?

Not hardly. Perhaps we need to recognize the value of slow mysticism — where a gradual experience of slowly falling in love with God, slowly enjoying a meaningful prayer life, and slowly growing in grace and virtue should be recognized as just as mystical as any extraordinary or dramatic encounter with God. A glacier moves slowly, but the impact it makes on the landscape lasts for thousands of years. So it is with a “slow mystical experience” — it may not be as dramatic as being awakened by an alarm clock, but the slow illumination of the morning sunlight is, in fact, a much more joyful and satisfying way to wake up!

If you love Evelyn Underhill (and Julian of Norwich, William Blake, and other English mystics), join me on a pilgrimage in search of the “Wisdom of the English Mystics” in England, May 27-June 2, 2026. For information or to sign up, click here.

Quotation source: Underhill, Evelyn. Advent With Evelyn Underhill (p. 25). (Function). Kindle Edition.