Easter. A time of mystery. A time when light shines, and we see things differently. It comes from the darkness of the Passion, from suffering, and from not knowing. It is true, that I appreciate light more when I have experienced darkness. That I appreciate resurrection better when I have known suffering.
John Shea speaks to this in his book Story of God, where he quotes Kazantzakis's description of mystery. It is, he says, the luminous interval between two darknesses. He then notes that when the reliability of all we have constructed is brought into question, we enter the dimension of Mystery (25).
In our desire to know, to be in the light, we forget that unknowing can contain something positive and fulfilling. This is the difference between faith, and having a vague spirituality with no particular beliefs.
This is not an attempt to put a good spin on pain and injustice, emotional distress and suffering. Rather, it is how we make sense of it. For as much as we don't like to admit it, we do not find the depth of our soul until our world falls apart. That experience helps us realize that what has up till now proven good enough is no longer sufficient, and we seek something better.
Shea speaks at some length about the need for our ready answers and expectations to fail. He says Disenchantment is a traditional and well-established path to the awareness of Mystery...the beginning of mature religious consciousness (28-29). Shea's statement is obvious: I suspect every one of us can look back over the times in our lives when we entered into a new spiritual consciousness, and can track it to some form of disenchantment we experienced.
Mystery. It is not something to be feared, but something that invites us to enter more deeply. And only after we enter, do we discover.
And isn't that what Easter is all about?
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