Solving the MYSTERYous Problem
If you were to ask me before what my concept of love was, I would have given a lot of emphasis on love as a “feeling” and thus given you an idea of romance. If you asked me about faith, hope, trust and other intangible things, I would have given a whole mouthful of clichés which I’ve become accustomed to hearing and reading everywhere. At present, I have come to believe that the world is made up of all these endless clichés that in the end confuse rather than direct people to the truths of the world. One might question me what these truths of the world are- but in fact are very simple, misused words. Words such as Love, Faith, Hope, Trust, Wisdom and a whole lot more are to name a few.
In my opinion, those words I mentioned are abused words in the English language. Why do I say this?
In a philosophical article written by French philosopher Gabriel Marcel, he defines the basic difference between problem and mystery. Problems are issues that people face everyday and are naturally followed by solutions. On the other hand, a mystery has no need for one. Marcel illustrates this phenomenon by way of a digging process, where one never stops digging until an answer (solution) is unearthed. The digging process is continuous and unending on the part of a mystery because through the digging process, new “faces” of a mystery is discovered, yet not complete enough to be resolved as an actual solution or answer in its totality.
My point in discussing all these is this: the words I mentioned above, LOVE, FAITH, HOPE, TRUST, WISDOM are some words which belong to the “mystery” category. Through time, different aspects and meanings of these words are revealed through us through discovery and experience, yet it is forever revealing itself to us, as we go on digging into the depths of the words themselves. There is not one meaning we can cling onto, no clear “solution”, because these are not simple “problems” which requires simple and clear “solutions”. Thus, these words become abused each and every time a person rejects the mysterious quality of the word and defines it accordingly. Don’t get me wrong, definitions are good in the sense that it gives us glimpses of the totality of what is being defined. However, in many cases, where definitions become the end all and be all of things, there is no room left for further revelations and discoveries. As such, this is when making concise definitions turn toward the negative.
In many cases, those who hold the world and the material in great importance often want everything defined. They simply cannot rest until they have made definitions for the lot or have come up with solutions for everything. The question remains: If man has answers to everything and if man continuously tries to unearth mysteries of the world, then where does that leave room for faith? The act of faith consists in part of believing and trusting fully in something we have no full grasp of. I believe that man’s insistent need to define and give solutions to everything is their way of attempting to control a world that is in reality, merely leased out to them. We all have no right to put any claims in this world, for this is not our permanent home. We cannot say that we completely own what is ours in possession, for we are merely benefiting from little gifts that are parts of the bigger gift of Life. Sad to say, most people in today’s world simply find it hard to settle for things that they cannot define or solve, and their reason for such is a continued attainment of wisdom. The great error in that is that wisdom in man’s eyes is actually mere foolishness in God’s eyes. These men focus too much on making themselves wiser in an earthly sense that they become distant to what is of God and not “of this world”.
There is more cause to lament, for we can see clearly now, how human beings have tampered even with the greatest and most beautiful mystery of all- that which is God. There is a danger in defining who and what God is in simple terms, for we are putting ourselves in the trap of idolatry, in worshipping a God that we have defined for our own purposes and for our own convenience. By trying to “solve” the mystery of God, people have made definitions and pictures of a God that they can relate to, not realizing that in doing such, they are trapping Being in its very essence, and themselves as a result. Man is fully realized and actualized in God. Thus, by trapping God in the deluge of the limited ideas of humanity, man is trapping himself from freely being.
The solution to this problem of “mystery” is really quite simple. To begin with, we must all be fully aware of who we are and what we are capable of with regard to God. At the end of this search, we will realize that who we are and what we are is absolutely incomparable to what God can do and be. Consequently, we must set all our misguided ideas of God free and let God’s mystery be revealed to us through time. The first step would be to admit that we do not know God entirely in his essence and as a result, the quest to know God should be top priority and the first step in getting to know God is to know how he manifested Himself through His Word and His chosen ones.
In this very simple way, we do away with prideful thoughts of ourselves and of this world and are moved to humility and dependence in the realization that we cannot be extricated from knowing God, for it is only in embracing the Mystery to the fullest that we become free in setting out to begin our earthly journey toward Him.
In my opinion, those words I mentioned are abused words in the English language. Why do I say this?
In a philosophical article written by French philosopher Gabriel Marcel, he defines the basic difference between problem and mystery. Problems are issues that people face everyday and are naturally followed by solutions. On the other hand, a mystery has no need for one. Marcel illustrates this phenomenon by way of a digging process, where one never stops digging until an answer (solution) is unearthed. The digging process is continuous and unending on the part of a mystery because through the digging process, new “faces” of a mystery is discovered, yet not complete enough to be resolved as an actual solution or answer in its totality.
My point in discussing all these is this: the words I mentioned above, LOVE, FAITH, HOPE, TRUST, WISDOM are some words which belong to the “mystery” category. Through time, different aspects and meanings of these words are revealed through us through discovery and experience, yet it is forever revealing itself to us, as we go on digging into the depths of the words themselves. There is not one meaning we can cling onto, no clear “solution”, because these are not simple “problems” which requires simple and clear “solutions”. Thus, these words become abused each and every time a person rejects the mysterious quality of the word and defines it accordingly. Don’t get me wrong, definitions are good in the sense that it gives us glimpses of the totality of what is being defined. However, in many cases, where definitions become the end all and be all of things, there is no room left for further revelations and discoveries. As such, this is when making concise definitions turn toward the negative.
In many cases, those who hold the world and the material in great importance often want everything defined. They simply cannot rest until they have made definitions for the lot or have come up with solutions for everything. The question remains: If man has answers to everything and if man continuously tries to unearth mysteries of the world, then where does that leave room for faith? The act of faith consists in part of believing and trusting fully in something we have no full grasp of. I believe that man’s insistent need to define and give solutions to everything is their way of attempting to control a world that is in reality, merely leased out to them. We all have no right to put any claims in this world, for this is not our permanent home. We cannot say that we completely own what is ours in possession, for we are merely benefiting from little gifts that are parts of the bigger gift of Life. Sad to say, most people in today’s world simply find it hard to settle for things that they cannot define or solve, and their reason for such is a continued attainment of wisdom. The great error in that is that wisdom in man’s eyes is actually mere foolishness in God’s eyes. These men focus too much on making themselves wiser in an earthly sense that they become distant to what is of God and not “of this world”.
There is more cause to lament, for we can see clearly now, how human beings have tampered even with the greatest and most beautiful mystery of all- that which is God. There is a danger in defining who and what God is in simple terms, for we are putting ourselves in the trap of idolatry, in worshipping a God that we have defined for our own purposes and for our own convenience. By trying to “solve” the mystery of God, people have made definitions and pictures of a God that they can relate to, not realizing that in doing such, they are trapping Being in its very essence, and themselves as a result. Man is fully realized and actualized in God. Thus, by trapping God in the deluge of the limited ideas of humanity, man is trapping himself from freely being.
The solution to this problem of “mystery” is really quite simple. To begin with, we must all be fully aware of who we are and what we are capable of with regard to God. At the end of this search, we will realize that who we are and what we are is absolutely incomparable to what God can do and be. Consequently, we must set all our misguided ideas of God free and let God’s mystery be revealed to us through time. The first step would be to admit that we do not know God entirely in his essence and as a result, the quest to know God should be top priority and the first step in getting to know God is to know how he manifested Himself through His Word and His chosen ones.
In this very simple way, we do away with prideful thoughts of ourselves and of this world and are moved to humility and dependence in the realization that we cannot be extricated from knowing God, for it is only in embracing the Mystery to the fullest that we become free in setting out to begin our earthly journey toward Him.
posted by kath | 4:37 PM
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