Sacred Mystery of the Universe
Listen: “She’s A Mystery To Me” by U2
Where do you find the mystery in life? I think I can honestly say that I have loved God, loved people, and loved nature my entire conscious life. I also find all three to be incredibly mysterious. Over the last three years of my life, I have journeyed through the darkness of a three-quarter life crisis, felt abandoned at times by a few old friends, community, and God, wrestled with shame and self-hatred, and found new friends and community in the process of healing and recovery. I even felt like an atheist at times during this recent journey or found myself raging against God if he/she/it did exist. I knew I wasn’t an atheist, but I felt and thought that way at times. Through this journey, the mystery of God, people, and nature has increased for me. I find beauty in mystery. I like to bow in awe and humility before mystery.
By mystery, I simply mean things we can’t explain. Things that are beyond the scope of human knowledge. Since the beginning of human consciousness, humans have tried to explain and give meaning to the things we don’t understand. Prior to the modern scientific era, all tribes and peoples subscribed to a supernatural worldview. Most of the stories and myths that were created by people in the ancient civilizations were supernatural in orientation (containing gods, angels, demons, ghosts, and spirit animals). Atheists were in an extreme minority in the ancient world. In the modern world, it’s estimated that 7-10% of the population on earth subscribes to atheism. In the ancient world, it would have been far, far less.
The mystery of God. I remember talking to someone recently and they told me they don’t think about God that much. I laughed and said, “I have thought about God and prayed to God every day of my life for over forty years. I think about God morning, noon, and night. I have earned bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in theology (thoughts about God).” I have studied all the major faith traditions from monotheism, to polytheism, to pantheism. Regardless of your conception of God (or Higher Power), you always bump into mystery at some point. For example, in the Protestant tradition of Christianity a group emerged in the seventeenth century called Calvinists (named after John Calvin). Calvinists developed a rational, systematic theology from scripture around the sovereignty of God. God is ultimately in charge of everything that happens in the Universe. In the experience of evil, tragedy, and suffering, God is still in charge, even to the point of predetermining all things for his own glory. The mystery is in believing that God is still just, loving, and gracious and powerfully in charge of all things. It’s beyond the human capacity to understand the ways of God—His ways are higher than our ways—so you have to trust in God even though you don’t understand all the ways of God. I could draw examples from every faith tradition. One of the thorniest mysteries for all faith traditions is the problem of evil and suffering. Siddhattha Gotama (Buddha) famously wrestled with the issue of suffering and came to some fascinating conclusions about the illusory nature of suffering. In the end, after centuries of thoughts and volumes of books, even the answers lead to mystery.
The mystery of people. I could include people within the mystery of nature, but, even from an evolutionary perspective, humans are unique in their ability to create written languages and complex civilizations, and to reflect deeply on their own existence in the Universe. (See the discussion on “The Cognitive Revolution” by Yuval Noah Harari in Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.) Several faith traditions would say humans are unique because they are created in the image of God. Theistic evolutionists might even agree with this idea. Even atheist evolutionists still marvel at the unique nature of human beings. Theoretical physicist Sean Carroll says, “If there is any one aspect of reality that causes people to doubt a purely physical and naturalist conception of the world, it’s the existence of consciousness.” (See the discussion on “Thinking” by Sean Carroll in The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself.) From modern psychological perspectives, humans remain a mystery. From the development of psychoanalysis to cognitive behavioral therapy, humans have sought to understand themselves. How do we achieve mental health and optimal living on this planet in relationship to ourselves, others, and God? Are the mental and relational health problems we encounter as human beings the result of nature or nurture? Can we find the source of our problems within interruptions of childhood development and nurture? (There are many tests which evaluate adverse childhood experiences and the impact on mental and relational health.) Or can we find the source of our problems within the genetics and small molecules in our bodies? Neuroscientist David Eagleman has shown how biological changes in the brain can dramatically alter our personalities and, in effect, make us different people. Eagleman says, “So we see that the invisibly small molecules we call narcotics, neurotransmitters, hormones, viruses, and genes can place their little hands on the steering wheel of our behavior.” Eagleman concludes: “If there’s something like a soul, it is at minimum tangled irreversibly with microscopic details” (Incognito, p. 209). Suffice it to say, even the best psychologists and neuroscientists in the world find humans to be wildly mysterious.
The mystery of nature. Nature can be exceptionally, spectacularly beautiful. Whether you are gazing out at the Universe and pondering the planets, stars, and galaxies or watching honey bees build a colony with a single queen, hundreds of male drones, and 20,000 to 80,000 female worker bees, nature is endlessly fascinating and beautiful. Nature can also be exceptionally, brutally vicious. Whether you are watching a video of a Nile crocodile devour a gazelle or witnessing the devastation of hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes, nature is endlessly cruel and ugly. It’s no surprise that when ancient peoples tried to figure out nature through a supernatural worldview they came up with mythological gods who behaved like nature and behaved like human beings. Some gods were incredibly benevolent and some were incredibly cruel. Nature, and the existence of life on this “third rock from the sun,” is a marvelous mystery.
The sacred mystery of the universe. Life is extraordinary, if not sacred. I believe life is sacred and mysterious. Whether you are a theist, a monotheist, a polytheist, a pantheist, or an atheist, life is a majestic mystery before which we stand in awe. I am reminded of the conclusion of neuroscientist David Eagelman’s thoughts at the end of his book, Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain:
Imagine for a moment that we are nothing but the product of billions of years of molecules coming together and ratcheting up through natural selection, that we are composed only of highways of fluids and chemicals sliding along roadways within billions of dancing cells, that trillions of synaptic conversations hum in parallel, that this vast egg like fabric of micron-thin circuitry runs algorithms undreamt of in modern science, and that these neural programs give rise to our decision making, loves, desires, fears, and aspirations. To me, that would be a numinous experience, better than anything ever proposed in anyone’s holy texts (p. 224).
I find myself wanting to worship and bow before the mystery in awe and wonder. I have spent over forty years pondering life, studying scriptures, reading voraciously, and helping people navigate the mystery of God, human relationships, and nature itself. Sometimes its helpful to make it simple through prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
(Prayer of St Francis)
Shalom
©realfredherron, 2022
