Appreciating the mystery of God
(this is a longer one, so be prepared)
During my college years, I started to deconstruct my faith that I had carried with me up to that point.
(And I use that term in the correct way, not the “I just want a good excuse to walk away from the faith” way)
I grew up affiliated with Trinitarian Pentecostal “vibes” for my Christian beliefs during my younger years.
And then I grew up Nazarene for my adolescent years.
But then, at some point in college, I was struggling with everything I had been taught starting to conflict in ways that made faith almost…inconceivable…to me.
So, I started from scratch.
I walked back my beliefs and poured over scripture more and more, leaning into the original languages, while studying other beliefs and theological frameworks.
One of those theological frameworks including diving into Catholicism and Orthodoxy.
And there was this beautiful concept that I had never been taught, never observed, in my Christian upbringing: the beautiful mystery of God.
Everything could be explained and theologized.
And, yet…here was a whole branch of Christianity that not only allowed for the divine mystery of the unexplainable and unknowable but encouraged their believers to revel in the divine mysteries of God!
Greek Orthodoxy, as an example, focuses on a lot of ritual during the worship service (this is called the liturgy for all who are interested in that kind of thing). But, there was one book that broke down each step of this worship service.
It explained, in detail, why the service moved in the way that it did, why each piece of the service was so important, the significance of the arrangements of the setting and tools and sights and smells and sounds.
While there was nothing magical about the particular way in which the service was organized, there was plenty that was reverent in the way there was an acknowledged mystery that happens when we worship intentionally.
God shows up, the Spirit moves, not just because of our emotional response to a song, but because of the 1,000 other times we have done this exact same thing and honored the practice of repetition to bring our hearts and minds to a place of focus on God, on God’s creation.
And, in that, God physically shows up alongside us in a way we cannot study, observe, or comprehend…but neither can we deny.
The same is true of the Catholic approach to the Eucharist, or Communion.
The elements become the flesh and blood of Jesus in a way we cannot possibly fathom or understand.
And that’s not only okay, but they are encouraged to be excited by this mystery of God.
Whether you believe in the theological points of these two examples is irrelevant.
The point is to honor and appreciate the mystery of God, the things we can’t explain, the ways in which God is very, very really and truly with us, in us, and around us.
My prayer for today
Our Father, thank you for not explaining every little thing to us. Jesus, give us a heart for your divine, holy mysteries. Spirit, help us appreciate the unknown and unknowable parts of God, just as much as the parts we know and understand. Amen.
Remember
You can appreciate the unknown when you appreciate the mystery of God. Because God is “Holy” and completely “Other” from us. So it only makes sense that there are things we absolutely cannot ever understand about God, God’s Kingdom, and God’s will. And it’s okay to not be okay with that fact, too. But don’t let that be a reason to turn from God entirely.