Embracing Ambiguity (Embracing Faith)

We will never have this life all figured out. We will never have a corner on the market of all truth. Pure wisdom will always be outside of us. But this is ok! We weren't meant to have it all figured out. We are called to live by faith. The call is to walk into mystery, into truth that is guiding us, not truth that we have control over. I say this to encourage us all, it is a great freedom to know that I'm accepted in my not knowing. Faith keeps us in the fight. If I decide against all hope, I've quit the fight. Similarly, if I've decided I have it all figured out, I've left the fight as well. My capacity for mystery, for love, for great truth is dying, and my capacity to hold these things is diminishing. But there is good news. All faith requires is saying yes to God. To open our hands and receiving from him. It does't require that we understand the gift, only that we let it change us, only that we live into it. We live in a society where answers seem to be more praised than questions. But we tend to seek only the answers that confirm our status quo. Whereas questions, questions open me up to the Other, to receiving, to mystery, to what is beyond me. I see this as great news. Faith states to us to stand in the mystery, to abandon our need for control, to drink in deeply to the mercy and love found in this life. Faith helps me to view the sunset, the impeccable mountain, and though I can't quantify the beauty, though I can't accurately explain it in words, I can be grateful for it. Faith helps me get beyond being hung up on the content and helps me engage more in the process. Faith means I already have what it takes to let mystery touch me, I need only to succeed to it. Faith isn't created a beauty from nothing, it is awakening my eyes, my mind, my heart to the beauty already present in the universe. It's less of a spirituality of addition, more of a deepening trust in the God already at work in the world and in my life. At times, I may encounter two or more ideas that seem to be opposing without knowing which if any are accurate. But faith speaks into this situation allowing us to rest in the love and Presence that are God. And, if I'm not quick to react, if I hold the tension in a loving grasp, I may see the truth on both (or all) sides. Weary travelers, let not your unknowing and doubt undue you. Rather, let them propel you into deeper mystery, into mystery that more readily holds all things without passing judgement. Let us together be invested in the God of mystery, who gives of himself in abundance no matter how much or little we realize it or accept it.