Friday, February 20, 2015

without understanding

today's readings: Leviticus 9:7-10:20, Mark 4:26-5:20, Psalm 37:30-40, Proverbs 10:6-7

the thing that i noticed today was something Jesus said in passing during one of His parables. He says that "the seed sprouts and grows, but [the farmer] does not understand how it happens."

we place a great deal of emphasis on understanding things today. it is very important to us as westerners that we know how and why things happen. we are uncomfortable with "not knowing". education is of utmost importance, and ignorance is heavily ridiculed.

there are obviously important reasons why we should know things. but Jesus points to something here that we can all learn from (ironic, that). He points to a mystery. something we do NOT understand. and there is a beauty and a goodness in not knowing.

one of the things that i love about communion or the Eucharist is the mystery. people know that the Church (through the priest (or their pastor), through their family, through the Bible) tells them that they should go receive the Eucharist because it is Jesus. they know that it's good, even if they have no idea how it got that way. and really, no one except God knows how it got that way. but they obey, in trust and in love, and receive something without understanding it that is far greater than anything they might have received with their full understanding.

there is a place for mystery in our faith. we weren't meant to know how everything works. some of our faith is impossible to understand or explain ON PURPOSE. the Trinity is something we will never fully comprehend... and that is good.

sometimes it's good to let things be mysterious. when you're in love, mystery adds to the beauty of your love. romance is built on mystery in many ways.

sometimes it's good to not know... and to trust.

God, please help me trust You, especially when I don't understand.

2 comments:

Julie said...

Amazing reading again today. Jesus calms the sea, (even though the apostles were terrified) and He was asleep in the boat. Then He meets the man possessed by demons, their name was legion as there was so many of them. The legion asked to be sent into the herd of pigs, over 2000 of them and they ran into the lake. But the people who saw this and heard of it asked Jesus to leave. Was it fear or lack of understanding or ignorance

Unknown said...

I'm finding out rather quickly now, that the older I get the more mysterious life gets. I really thought it all would finally make sense as I grew older, but noooo it actually gets more complicated. So, yeah, I have learned once again to ask God to handle the bigger items, and I'll do what I can with the simpler things. It's a lot better if I just get out of the way.