Are you up for a ‘mystery’ challenge this month? I’m referring to mystery (spiritual truth via divine revelation) in the sense of awe, wonder and magnificent impossibility as well as the mundane usage of ‘mystery’ as that which baffles the mind and defies explanation or our comprehension. How about a daily conscious encounter with mystery?


I will explain in more detail. If you prefer to get right to the double challenge, you can skip the background and context and tackle the Challenge. You might miss interesting information, though!

Background and Context

It’s easy to see the superficial connection to the mysterious for me this month:

First, Halloween (October 31) has peeked around the corner, the day the Celtics believed the border between this world and the Otherworld to become thin so spirits could pass through, and All Saints and All Souls Day (November 1 and 2) that celebrate our spiritual communion with the dead.

The second and more important reason is two-fold, though, and emerges on a much more personal level. Life, existence and the universe definitely remain a mystery to me and fill me with awe and wonder.

I’ve been in awe of the beauty of the amazing Indian summer we experienced for so many days in Southwestern Ontario this year. The colours, the air and the light have been breath-taking. The mix of sunshine, warm temperatures and rain has resulted in an utterly bountiful Fall harvest. It never ceases to amaze me how one tiny seed can grow into the most nourishing and beautiful carrot, radish or squash.

At the same time, however, another feeling has been in the air for me–the urge and restlessness of needing ‘to figure things out.’ Imagination, incomprehension and impatience characterize this mood. Just like the autumn leaves that are blown about by the wind these days, I have felt more scattered and unfocused than normally this past month. As I listen to and watch the daily events unfold, both on a personal and global level, I’m left with a sense of confusion and curiosity.

So much of the anger, fear, disillusionment that has been palpable, particularly in the context of political debates, policy setting, and climate change, appears old. The phrase, Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, comes to mind! (The more things change, the more they stay the same.) What prevents us from truly making changes that are supportive of the human spirit?

Just read the following sentence: “As you know, there is a growing disrespect for government and for churches and for schools, the news media, and other institutions. This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning.”

Do you recognize the source? Yes, right on–President Jimmy Carter! He delivered this speech in 1979, entitled “Energy and the National Goals: A Crisis of Confidence,” in which he pointed to the question of identifying and the commitment to living according to our core values.

Such a course of action requires trust in our ability to embrace our values full-heartedly and use them to discern what we need and want, and finally to set priorities. “We must face the truth, and then we can change our course. We simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern ourselves, and faith in the future,” President Carter continues. (You will find the full text of his speech, much of which sounds current, right here .)

I’ve come across a somewhat surprising source to illustrate a similar point–I suppose this reveals judgment on my part here–Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple and Pixar. In his 2005 Stanford University Commencement speech , he reminds the graduates, “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” So, looking back, we can see the ‘wholes,’ the bigger picture and understand perhaps more of the overarching reasons, motivations and connections. I wonder how many of us waste time and resources and remain stuck by trying to connect the dots forward!

Steve Jobs proceeds by giving this advice for moving forward, “You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.”

Now, as a linguistic I find it fascinating that both the words’ ‘faith’ and ‘confidence’ (which President Carter used) have their roots in the Latin word ‘fidere,’ which means ‘to trust,’ (the word Steve Jobs used). As you can see, we’re right back at today’s topic-mystery. How, you ask?

Well, when I catch myself losing my patience and getting frustrated or angry because I don’t understand (myself, others, a situation), I remind myself to sift through these agitations until I rediscover and clarify my core values. How do I care to identify myself?

Then I take a leap of faith and trust that even, and often exactly when I least understand the dots will connect in the future. Isn’t that also what the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke suggests in one of his letters to a young poet ?


In that sense, fully accepting and living the questions and the mystery-the unknown, the unknowable, the impossible, the awe and wonder–serve as catalysts for my imagination, which in turn fuels creative expression.

Challenge

Here is the double challenge.

• Become an active seeker of mystery. Promise yourself to open up to mystery. Invite it into your conscious experience; seek out the profound mysteries of your daily life in which you find yourself immersed.

For instance, isn’t it amazing how your child or grandchild, your niece or nephew (once nothing more than the merged product of a tiny egg and sperm, learns to speak?

Or you might admire a very simply a blade of grass, the hair on your body, a leaf or a flower pedal in their incredibly brilliant design.
How about the abilities of birds, fish and other animals to migrate thousands of miles through unknown territory with inexplicable certitude?

Allow yourself to be silenced by your astonishment.Fill your cup with that sense of awe and wonder–it’s easy and deeply nourishing.

• Now to the more mundane aspect of mystery, the unknown or incomprehensible, the nagging questions perhaps. Whenever you catch yourself in frustration, disbelief, anger or even cynicism about actions, behaviours and events around you, sort through the agitations with the intention to dig deeper.

Remember that the word ‘crisis’ means precisely that, an opportunity to ‘sift and separate.’ Look at what emerges as your core values, which you might identify as your deeply anchored vision and motivation that speak from your heart and resonate with your whole being.

Then engage in loving and forward moving, supportive action, thoughts and behaviours. Invest your energy into who you wish to be. Commit yourself to being truthful to your whole being. Trust that, even though you may not have a clue as to the how and why or all the rest of it, you will be able to connect the dots at the right time. Stay open to the wonder of the mystery. particularly when it reveals itself as the extra in the ordinary .