Day Thirty Nine – With God as our Companion, We can Embrace the Mystery

Life is an adventure in which there is always more to discover about ourselves and the world. Every moment reveals the divine in God’s many-faceted revelation; no moment fully reveals the divine. You are a word of God. (Eckhardt) But, God has many other words, revelations, and spiritual paths than the one you are taking.

We see in a mirror dimly, as the apostle Paul notes. But, we see enough for one step at a time. We don’t need to know the future to trust God’s vision for the present. The future emerges like our lives one moment at a time.

Martin Buber once stated that reality is not always understandable but it is embraceable. We can embrace this moment, trusting that God is our companion now and in the future. The original manuscript of Mark’s gospel ends at verse eight, not with the resurrection appearances but with an Empty Tomb, as if to say that divine revelation does not give us all the answers nor is our healing ever complete, but that God is here in the unfinished and evolving nature of life.

As the poet Rilke says, love the questions, but also love the Mystery and the Unsettled. The future is open for God and for us. This is Mystery but it is also the inspiration to play are part in creating the future as God’s companions in the Holy Adventure.

Today, let us affirm the Mystery and the Open Future with these words.
I trust God with Life’s mysteries.
I journey into the unknown with God as my companion and guide.
I play my role as God’s companion in creating the future.

Bruce Epperly is a theologian, spiritual guide, healing companion, retreat leader and lecturer, and author of nineteen books, including Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living; God’s Touch: Faith, Wholeness, and the Healing Miracles of Jesus; and Tending to the Holy: The Practice of the Presence of God in Ministry. He has taught at Georgetown University, Wesley Theological Seminary, Claremont School of Theology, and Lancaster Theological Seminary. He is currently theologian in residence at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He can be reached for lectures, seminars, and retreats at [email protected]