Thursday, we were talking about recreational marijuana.

And I briefly mentioned that various religions have used marijuana in pursuit of a spiritual

high, a divine connection or some sort of altered state of consciousness that they believe

will deepen their faith or open their mind to a sacred experience.

And if you've been around for a while on this podcast, you know that we talk about

the daily fight to experience God's manifest presence in our lives, the experienced, known,

tasted presence of God.

That's a topic that comes up when we talk about spiritual depression.

Like you'll see in the APJ book on pages 399 to 400, it's the opposite of spiritual

depression to have this experience, this known, tasted presence of God in our lives.

And seeking after that experience, that kind of language

can make people think that we're talking about some euphoric high or mystical experience that we

pitch as sort of like the pinnacle that everyone should aspire to in their spiritual lives. And so

it's good to consider this letter from Diane in South Africa.

Pastor John, thank you for all that you've done to educate and help Christians worldwide for so many years.

I've made use of many of your resources online, and I don't know if this question has come up before,

but what are your thoughts on Christian mysticism and Christian

mystics in their interaction with God? Did they experience something in their walk with God that

we have generally lost today? Is mysticism something that we should pursue to have a closer

walk with God? I understand that mysticism often involves deep personal experiences with God, but I'm

unsure whether it aligns with what the Bible teaches on how we are to know God and be sanctified.

Can mysticism be a legitimate path to spiritual growth, or does it distract from the means of grace

...