Are We Zinging Right Past Divine Mystery ?
Confessions of a guy with Christian roots but a spinning head.
A Glimpse of Wonder
My wife and I have walked along trails, mountains, meadows and canyons for decades now. Our first date was to Jardine, Montana - an old mining, ghost town about eight miles north of where we both worked in Yellowstone National Park. I still remember so vividly the sun setting over the Gardner River, pictured below, as it ran through the adjoining valley. Rumor has it that some rebellious youngsters from the east actually skinny dipped in these pristine waters.
As we traversed the valley and paths toward Jardine, I was exposed to the difference between my concept of hiking and Emily’s. To this day, when we “hike,” she’s slowly taking in the moss, tiny flowers, mushrooms and moths around her, while I’m racing ahead, focused on the rocks, the roots, the birds above, and the destination. So many parallels could be drawn between our hiking styles and the way we travel through life - but I digress.
In my travels through a number of countries and a few continents, I have taken in the grandest of vistas. But I am still perpetually fascinated by the simple fact that anything exists. Anything at all!
Even one solitary drop of water - anywhere! That single drop consists of a billion molecules - each molecule comprised of two hydrogen atoms, and one oxygen atom. But where did that first intricately designed atom come from?
For those who would respond - “God made it,” I have a small but related question I’d like to ask. Where did God come from? No disrespect intended, but I’m not going to start sleeping at night just because someone responds - “God created himself.”
Is it too large a jump to also suggest that whoever or whatever created the first atom also created “HD1” the newest galaxy candidate which is 13.5 billion light years away ? Or did it take teamwork to create the entire universe? This recent discovery by astronomers from the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has me in awe over the unfathomable size of our greater neighborhood.
Give Divine Mystery a Chance and Stop Calling It Names
Many of us living today were led to believe that God created all that is. Others of us were led to believe that Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, Elohim or other revered deities created all that is. In homage to Mr. Shakespeare, I’ll just say "A rose by any other name, would smell as sweet."
So many beliefs regarding our Americanized God are inseparable from our culture and the agendas of our forefathers. But they’re also entangled with the agendas of all too many leaders who wield “God” as a tool or even a weapon. While religions are vulnerable to most of these hazards - I dare say that spirituality is not. The latter does not concentrate power. It lets people tap into the deep reservoirs and tributaries that connect us with something bigger than ourselves.
All Should Not Be Lost
Organized religions, at least to my minimally studied mind, started out based on the teachings of well-intentioned prophets. Their words and depth of insight were passed on through countless generations and still endure because of the wisdom contained therein. They were unfortunately translated, misrepresented and exploited by countless old men with agendas centered around greed and power.
My fear is that particularly in this post-truth era, we’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater. The most bizarre and evil distortions of “sacred truths” should not take away their value or our sense of wonder.
Try to wrap your head around the fact that every single one of us is in the middle of nowhere on a tiny, beautiful rock, traveling at 67,000 miles an hour as we orbit the sun. Have we thought for more than a moment as to how and why our souls got here, or why we were even given breath.
Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird, put it so well - There are three essential prayers - “Help,” “Thanks,” and “WOW!”
Can I at least hear an “Amen” for the last one?
Hey again Mark. When I was younger, I was a big certainty, kinda concrete thinking person. But what do they say, the more you know, the less you know! I heard a ernest follower of Christ remark once, "I would have this theology of God in my nice bucket, but then God would come along and kick it over!'
1. Amen!
2. I also think Lamott nailed it with that title.
3. I think I hike like both you and your wife. :-)
4. It’s amazing how long we Western humans have thought about a singular creator, though singularity takes so much willful denial to see. The twins and four directions of indigenous North American tradition and the Christian trinitarian theology at least imagine an interconnected cosmos made by a mind that’s interconnected “all the way down.” To me, this is more plausible, but it’s just guesswork.
5. I won’t spread any rumors about skinny dippers on the Gardner River. Montana keeps its secrets.
Enjoyed your post! :-)