May 6, 2026

How comfortable are you with Mystery? [And I capitalize Mystery so as to represent ALL that is beyond our understanding.] When I think of Mystery, words such as inexplicable, enigmatic, puzzle, paradox, and mystify come to my mind.

God’s questions to Job at the close of the Book of Job also come to my mind. They are good ones about the Mystery. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” (38:4) “Have you commanded the morning since your days began…?” (38:12) Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?” (38:33) “Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?” (38:37)

Sure, there were once mysteries which the wonders of science have since turned into knowledge upon which we can act and use. And yet, so much remains a Mystery. What is our relationship to the Mystery that remains?

I have become increasingly aware of (more sensitive to?) comments made to condemn Mystery and to eliminate it altogether, as if there is no constructive place for it in our lives. I disagree. Scripture is full of Mystery. Life is full of Mystery. It is okay for us not to know the Mystery. We gather in the face of Mystery to tend to each other. Coming to the Table and how we are loved and cared for by doing so is a Mystery. Somehow, and in some way, Mystery provides the energy for keeping on and for getting along… if we so choose. Mystery, for me, is a lure into the unknown and into possibility, both at the same time.

Rev. Eric