Living the Mystery

We want answers. All of us. And yet, answers are not always readily available. They are not even always good for us. Sometimes, we must be content just to live out the mystery itself.

Answers represent what is tangible in life. It was kinda what the Israelites wanted from Moses when they asked him to give them food in the desert. But even when they were given manna from heaven, they were still discontented. The tangible didn’t satisfy, at least, not for long. They wanted more, different, new.

Life is a mystery. Sometimes searching for answers leads us to dig deeper and question more, and find truth, light and hope. But there is a dark side to questioning as well, one that leads to frustration and anxiety, even losing faith. There are some incidents in life for which we have no answer. These incidents perplex, even anger us. But those are times we should sit before God holding out our empty hands, realizing our humanness means limitations, even on understanding.

If answers offered solutions to life, than when Jesus came, he would have given them to us. But Jesus didn’t say, “I am the answer.” He said, “I am the Way.” The truth about life is, it is a journey, sometimes joyous beyond measure, sometimes painful beyond belief. And as we struggle to find our way, we need to be reminded that we don’t always need to know the answer to the question "why"; just as we cannot expect to always see life's journey clearly. Both are part and parcel of this mortal life of ours. The journey is itself a mystery full of twists and turns, light and darkness, faith and doubt. Our challenge is not to know why, but to hang in there for the long run.