There’s nothing quite like a good mystery. It’s my favourite genre of movie and book. A lot of things mystify me:
• How can my wife find anything in her purse?
• Why do we call it a pair of pants? There’s just one.
• What causes déjà vu?
• Why isn’t chocolate considered a vegetable? It comes from a bean.
• Why are they called soap operas? Nobody sings. Do they?
• Why is it called a double-U and not a double-V? Think about it.
• Why do fat chance and slim chance mean the same thing?
• And what causes déjà vu? Oh wait. I feel like I already said that.
This world is a baffling place. And much smarter people than I have been befuddled by the mysteries of life and the universe. Scientists have yet to explain why more people are right-handed than left-handed; why we yawn and hiccup; why we dream; how the placebo effect works; or why light behaves like a particle and like a wave. Some of the greatest puzzles involve the world of quantum physics. How can particles be in two places at once? How can electrons pop out of existence and appear simultaneously in another place? Mystery. The Bible leaves us with plenty of unanswered questions, too. How can God be three persons and one being at the same time? And why suffering?
Be wary of people who spout easy answers. Yes, my wife and I have been comforted in our sorrows by a suffering God who gives peace and purpose. But sometimes the mysteries reach light years beyond the limits of our tiny brains. And that’s okay. Maybe that’s why I love meeting scientists and preachers who are humble enough to say, “I don’t know.” Michael Card sings,
“When the Father longed to show
A love He wanted us to know
He sent His only Son and so
Became a holy embryo
A mother made by her own Child
A hopeless Babe who cried
Was God Incarnate and man deified
That is the mystery
More than you can see
Give up on your pondering
Fall down on your knees.”
When we look at Jesus, we see God in His fullness, and the questions that really count are answered. We are not alone. We are loved. We are valued by God. Of course, we still have questions. Like, how is it that one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire? And why does every load of laundry contain at least one mismatched sock?
