Saturday, March 21, 2009

Mystery


Walking into the LutherHill chapel at sunset.

The discussion turned
 to angles and demons. When in safe trusted conversation it is always surprising how many people have will admit to having personal experiences. Ghosts enters into the discussion also. It seems amongst my Spiritual Director friends these are common experiences.

I do believe in God and that we do live in and amongst many spiritual flurries breathed out amongst us all kinds of ways I can’t understand. I suspect there is no theology that hold what can’t be understood.

One of my last days in high school, a class called “Life and Living” we had a substitute. She was a mom of two twin sons, also seniors at Cedar Falls High. She was to show a film about loss and death.  Half way through the film she shut it off. She then shared her own experience of being “clinically dead,” I believe during a operation. She described the experience of leaving her body and the meeting of a being of light. There was no doubt in my mind that she spoke truth of her experience. I sensed she had complete confidence in her faith and also had no fear of death.

That may have been one of my first experiences hearing a story of spiritual mystery. As I hear people tell of encounters with angels, demons and ghosts I wonder. I am certain that mystery experiences exist. I am not sure we have words that accurately can be attached to these experiences. I wonder if our attempts to fit such experiences into our world view and theology have any semblance for being named with words.

I am most comfortable with using the word “mystery” and being comfortable with not needing to explain or over interpret. God is. God is present. Our understandings of God can are incomplete. “We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!”  (The Message 1 Cor. 13:12)

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