Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens; Boothbay, ME
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When mystery shows itself to you, you experience it as more than a something. In such a meeting, mystery is known to be a presence. This does not mean a someone finds us, either. What finds us, we cannot say; we can, however, know.
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"I've been trying to discover the mystery of life for years, but it seems to evade me. What am I to do?" she asked the Sage. He replied, "Relax. Let it find you. No one discovers the mystery of life; it discovers you."
*Brian K. Wilcox. "Meetings with an Anonymous Sage."
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My late friend and Episcopal priest, Ron, handed me a written sermon to read. Another clergyperson had written the message. The story reflects Ron's trust in and devotion to the mystery communicated through his faith path.
In the sermon, the Christian clergyperson recalls being a boy playing in the basement of the family home. His dad had told him never to go into the basement. This day, the son wandered into it. He began digging in the ground. His dad discovered him in the forbidden basement and told him to leave.
Just before his dad discovered him, the boy had come upon something in the dirt, but he did not have time to dig it up. He left, not knowing what it was.
The family moved from that house. The clergyperson shared that he has lived in wonderment since. He still wonders about what he almost uncovered and what remains in that basement hidden. He relates in the sermon the value of mystery to our lives.
Have you had an experience with what you could call mystery? Was there a precipitating event that seems to have opened you to receive that visitation? What wisdom did that experience confirm to you? What feeling(s) arose in response to that experience? What role does curiosity play in the spiritual life? Can we make it more likely to have more moments of encounter with mystery? Explain.
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*©Brian K. Wilcox, 2022.
*Use of photography is allowed accompanied by credit given to Brian K. Wilcox and notation of title and place of the photograph.
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
