Here we are in the year 2020, and all around me I see the theme of “20/20 Vision” used in marketing campaigns for just about everything from churches to accounting firms.
It’s the churches that interest me the most. So much about Divine Life is unknown and unseen. A growing edge in spirituality, I think, is to garner an awareness of that and cultivate some comfort with that mystery.
Christian novelist and essayist Madeleine L'Engle said, "There are no answers to the wonder of creation."
To limit God by thinking we understand the exact nature of God…..robs us of spiritual expansiveness. When I try on any kind of belief or spiritual notion for size, I like to leave some “wiggle room” for something more, or even better.
My dear friend Rev. Jay Mulkey puts it far more elegantly, he says, “The personal life lived deeply always expands into Truths beyond itself.”
In the Christian scriptures, we find that in Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth wrote, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
To be able to say, “I don’t know” about anything is a measure of authenticity and maturity. I’m not sure about your experiences, but the older I get, the more I discover things I just don’t know about.
Curiosity and openness seem to me to be holy traits that impart to us so many gifts, if we allow them to. Gifts such as listening, patience, compassion, and great big empathetic hearts for those in the same boat as us; facing the unknown.
Especially in a hospital, where our work in part is discovering the unknown: Why does this body part hurt? Why can’t I make it up a flight of stairs? And the even broader question: Why is this happening to me? Those are very scary unknowns!
Embracing the unknown is no simple task. As human creatures we tend to take comfort in knowing what to expect.
I cannot possibly cover everything there is to know of the unknown in one five-minute chapel message. But I can impart some helpful awareness about the unknown.
First, it is my own observation that Love can take a little of the sting out of facing the unknown. Any kind of love: Divine Love, self-love, the love of friends and family, etc.
I think this is the reason people tend to gather around those facing the greatest unknown, which is …..what happens after this life. A universal notion about death is that there is life after death. The unknown aspect is what life after death is like. So, we gather and love our loved ones through that mystery and/or send in a love expert; a chaplain or representative of their faith community.
Next, we can practice facing the unknown through spiritual exercises such as centering, prayer, or meditation. This helps us gain more ease with the experience of mystery. Life is not always going to meet our expectations. The Holy One has its ways, and we don’t always understand them. I’m not sure if such practices completely address our unease around the unknown, but they sure can help.
I recently read of a wonderfully simple practice suggested by Joyce Rupp in her devotional book The Cup of Our Life, which can help us develop an appreciation for mystery:
Breathing in: "O Mystery.” Breathing out: "Alive in me.”
Practices like this are important, because while we may not have all the answers to life’s mysteries, we do have access to the Wisdom we need in any given moment. All that is required is an openness to that Wisdom and practice, as evidenced by these words from the Christian Scriptures, Colossians 1:26-27;
“The mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
In other words, a Universal notion about the Divine is that we are offspring of the Divine. Therefore, there are aspects of the Creator within us, however we understand that Creator to be.
So, if we pay attention, and practice, we find we are naturally equipped with the ability to access the Wisdom and Love we need to navigate any of life’s mysteries.
I thank you for reading and may you be blessed this day.
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