Friday, June 13, 2008

Mysteries & Mystics

Just like people love a good mystery story because it tickles their minds into working to put a bigger picture together out of little pieces, the same is true for the way we are captivated by UFOs crop circles, near death experiences, reincarnation, the many forms that spirit takes, and so on.

What both forms, mysteries and mysticism, teach us is that we always know that there are things that even the smartest among us do not know and cannot explain. These things can be amusing, suspenseful, surprising and satisfying. Strange what delicious amusement comes from not knowing.

There is an underlying humor in all this. Maybe in the cosmic scheme of things, telling why did the chicken cross the road jokes might be as significant as all our discussions about life after death. We won't know for sure about all that until we get there. A sense of humor is a great traveling companion.

What else is it that we like about mysteries? The duel between criminals and justice? Isn't that kind of like karma? And arent't our favorite villains those we like up to a point? And some of our favorite cop characters are those who go out of bounds? Sort of like all the spiritual lessons we get from dealing with adversity? And isn't all the debate over who is the real culprit and who is the best cop is somewhat akin to trying to decide which creation story is important or believable?

Mysteries and mysticism. Two sides of the same coin.

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