Mystery

Listening to mystery can be one of the hardest acts of listening. We often spend silent moments in conversations thinking about what we are going to say next. When we do this in conversation with others, we become distracted. The same can be true for life. When we do not fully listen to life, but ready our next response, we miss out on the voice of mystery. Mysteries after all can’t be rushed to answers. If they could, they wouldn’t be that mysterious. Perhaps this is why we sometimes close our ears to the voice of mystery. Mystery carries in its voice the power to silence us. Instead of distraction, mystery leads us to awareness. The silence we find in mystery leaves us speechless, breathless, and sometimes hopeless. But if we could close our eyes and visualize the mysteries of our lives, those mysteries that have followed us, maybe we could admit that their persistence has not been hopeless, but hope filled. The richness of their texture has in fact been what has made up the fabric of soul. The unknowns are what have invited us in to the present moment and the journey that becomes life.
This week let me encourage you to internally retrace the path that has been your life. Ask yourself,  what mysteries have stopped you in your tracks? What unanswerable moments have left you without speech? Take some time each day to relive those moments. Let their presence be felt. How have they changed your life? Where have those moments bunny-trialed your path. Some mysteries can be so sorrow-filled and leave our souls scarred and wounded, while others fill us with so much joy. Either way, the mysteries of our pasts have shaped our yesterday and I encourage you to allow the mysteries of today to shape your tomorrow.