Mystery runs a close second to stillness in my list of favorite words

In liturgical Christian churches, worshipers each week gather to proclaim "the mystery of our faith": Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ shall come again. The mystery of our faith? Yes, mystery, for combined in those three short declarations is something both true and impossible, both foundational and ludicrous. Really?! Christ died and then rose? He's coming back? Who believes this sort of thing?

I do. Does it make sense? Perhaps not. Does it need to? Perhaps not. It's a mystery.

The incarnation? Also mystery. The Trinity? Mystery. That any one of us survives to adulthood? Mystery. That we find joy and delight and meaning and love in this broken world? Mystery. Dark matter and quantum physics? Mystery.

I like mystery. Embracing mystery allows me to relax. I don't need to know. I don't need everything explained. There remains wonder, awe and gratitude for what is beyond me. I can be overwhelmed. I can feel small. Mystery allows for surprise, ambiguity, paradox and uncertainty.

Mystery allows God to be God.

Text and image © 2010 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.