Community of Fellow Travelers

Next Community Zoom 8/19/25 at Noon Mountain Time. 

Normally, we would be meeting on the 4th Tuesday, but Genie and I will be fishing that day. Below you will see the community we are building, and notes from the two zooms we have had so far. Find the Zoom Link here. 

In our next zoom, we will dialog about the post Unity, Union, Theosis. Howard Thurman, mentor to Dr Martin Luther King, Jr said:

I work at preparing my mind, my spirit for the moment when God comes to himself in me. When it happens, I experience His presence. In it, I hear His voice in my own tongue. The center is God coming to Himself. At these moments, it may easily seem to me that all there is, is God. 

So join us in community as we examine these ideas of unity and union with God.

Blessings, Gregg

Union with God: The Endpoint of Mysticism

Gregg’s Reflection

When I first heard the phrase “union with God,” I assumed it was reserved for saints, mystics, and spiritual elites. But over the years, I’ve come to see that it is not an achievement for the few—it is the birthright of all God’s children. I remember sitting in silence one morning, coffee cooling beside me, when the thought came: “God is not out there, somewhere distant. God is right here, closer than my breath.” It wasn’t a theological conclusion; it was a knowing that settled deep in my bones.

This kind of union doesn’t erase my humanity—it deepens it. I still wrestle with distractions, ego, and self-will, but more and more I catch glimpses of life lived with God rather than merely for God. Moments in nature, conversations with friends, even quiet drives have become doorways into awareness that we are not separate. The mystics call this theosis—sharing in the divine nature—and it’s less about striving and more about surrender.

I’ve also learned that union with God isn’t a one-time arrival. It’s a continual deepening, an ever-closer abiding. Some days I feel that connection strongly; other days it seems hidden. But the truth remains—God is always here, and the more I live from that reality, the more love flows through me to others. This, I believe, is the true goal of the spiritual life.

Scripture

I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.

John 17:23

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

Galatians 2:20

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature.

2 Peter 1:4

Ancient Quotes

God became man so that man might become God.

Athanasius of Alexandria

Modern Quotes

The Christian mystical life consists of three stages: purification, illumination, and union… Finally comes union: the insight that God is not ‘elsewhere,’ that we are not separate from God, that we are ‘partakers of the Divine Nature.’

Carl McColman, Christian Mystics, p. 197-198

Mysticism begins when the transcendent image of God recedes and there’s a deepening sense of God as immanent, present, here, now, safe, and even within me. St Catherine of Genoa said, ‘My deepest me is God.’

Richard Rohr, Yes, and, p. 109

Journaling Prompts

• When have you experienced God as “closer than your breath,” not distant but present within and around you?
• How does the idea of theosis—participating in the divine nature—reshape the way you see your spiritual journey?
• In what ways can you practice surrender, rather than striving, to deepen your union with God?
• What ordinary moments (in nature, in conversation, in silence) have become doorways into awareness of God’s presence?
• How might remembering that union with God is a continual deepening—not a one-time arrival—bring you peace and patience on your journey?

God’s Faint Path fellow travelers

Over the past years, I’ve been walking what I call God’s Faint Path—a quiet trail of spiritual seeking shaped by wilderness, silence, scripture, and the voices of saints and mystics across the ages. I’ve shared reflections along the way, not as a teacher with answers, but as a fellow pilgrim wondering aloud.

But here’s what I know: the faint path can be a lonely road.

James Finley once wrote of Thomas Merton, his beloved friend and spiritual guide as “an elder brother on the lonely road to God.” I’ve often felt the ache and gift of that truth. And like many of you, I’ve longed for the company of kindred souls—those who hunger not for religious performance, but for depth, transformation, and union with the Living God.

So I’m extending an invitation:

Would you like to journey together in a small circle of fellow travelers?

I’m imagining something simple:
• A space for shared reflections and spiritual conversation
• Periodic Zoom gatherings rooted in presence, silence, and honest sharing
• Occasional audio meditations or contemplative teachings
• An online hub for encouragement and soul friendship