Practices From the Inside Out: Living Into Sacred Mystery

Living Into Sacred Mystery

The mysteries we know do not prepare us to live into sacred mystery.

Many of us have a difficult relationship to mystery. We have been taught mystery challenges us with a puzzle to solve. Our mysteries are ones we have read or watched in which detectives work to find a resolution.

Our lives are filled with larger, more significant mysteries than the ones we find in detective stories.

Some of us approach the mysteries we find like good detectives. We gather clues and cross-examine witnesses, searching for solutions and answers. It is as if we can find and weigh evidence which will help us solve the mystery.

I know people for whom solving the mystery, finding the right answer, is their highest priority.

They may pride themselves on being people who keep working until they find an answer. Each question has an answer and they will not rest until they find it and share it with the people around them.

Other people appear not even to notice the mysteries around them. They move through their lives seeing only answers and certainty. The idea of ambiguity or mystery often makes them uncomfortable.

I believe sacred mystery is not only all around us, but within us. Spiritual life draws me into situations where I can recognize and appreciate the mystery. Though I often still try to analyze my way toward solutions, I am becoming more open to mystery.

Sacred mystery is not merely an invitation for us to reason our way into a solution. It is not up to us to rationally solve each mystery.

Rather than looking for solutions, mystery invites us to live into sacred mystery.

How do we practice living into sacred mystery in the world, and within us?

How We Practice Living Into Sacred Mystery

When we approach sacred mystery like detectives we start at the outer edges and work our way inward. We try to assemble pieces of evidence which allow us to put together a solution. Like detectives who collect forensic and physical evidence we work to fit the pieces together.

We do not practice living into sacred mystery by starting at the edges. Our practice of living into sacred mystery is about looking mystery straight in the eye.

When we practice living into sacred mystery we are not assembling a solution. We are building a relationship.

Mystery is not a challenge to be met or puzzle to be solved. Like any other relationship, we slowly allow knowing about a mystery to become knowing the mystery. At the same time we allow mystery to find its place within us.

We live into mystery as mutual recognition and connection grow between us.

As we get to know each other we find the ways mystery feeds and teaches us. We practice living into sacred mystery as mystery comes alive in us.

I know people who deliberately intend to spend time with sacred mystery every day. Many of them find sacred mystery helps them grow stronger in ways knowing cannot. They find mystery grows in them as they tend mystery in the world around them.

Our practice of living into sacred mystery is not a checklist with specific, detailed steps. We begin by seeing the mystery in the the world and spending time exploring it.

Many people find they need to plan to take time to seek mystery at first. They often find, as they practice, they experience mystery much more clearly.

We are not trying to solve or find answers to mystery. Our practice is more about embracing mystery or celebrating ambiguity than finding answers.

Looking Into Sacred Mystery

Some people ask me about how we know when mystery is sacred. They seem to want to make sure they are living into sacred mystery and not ordinary, everyday mystery.

Like with the other aspects of our lives, it keeps getting harder and harder for me to understand the difference.

When we begin living into mystery it is not clear which ones are sacred. It may be part of what makes it mystery.

We are not able to divide and categorize what is sacred and what is not. It is mystery.

It is, in fact, the way we live into mystery which makes it sacred. We recognize the depth and significance in everyday experiences. The meaning which infuses the smallest action shows us how sacred it is.

We live into sacred mystery and its sacredness becomes obvious to us.

Each moment, each experience is an example of sacred mystery. Even the times we think we most understand are saturated with sacred mystery. We begin living into sacred mystery by paying attention to it.

When we take time to look a moment in the eye we begin to see into sacred mystery. We pause, take a deep breath, and look sacred mystery in the eye without blinking.

How Can We Live Into Sacred Mystery Today?

We decide many times each day whether we will practice living into sacred mystery.

Some of us believe living into sacred mystery will be too confusing or upsetting. We like our lives to be organized and easy to understand. Mystery seems a little frightening and intimidating, even if it is sacred.

Others are taking their first steps into sacred mystery today. They are not detectives trying to solve the mysteries they find. Living into sacred mystery is a relationship they are willing to develop. They may recognize sacred mystery for the first time today.

Each time we live into sacred mystery is the first time. We look sacred mystery in the eye and it looks back into ours.

My friend Brenda Hanley and I host a conversation on Twitter which focuses on a word we live by each Sunday. Please join us on Sunday, July 29 at 6:00 PM Pacific Time as we explore mystery. We will be using the hashtag #WordsToLiveBy.

How can we practice living into sacred mystery this week?

Where will we look into sacred mystery today?

[Image by Lord Cuauhtli]

Greg Richardson is a spiritual life mentor and leadership coach in Southern California. He is a recovering attorney and university professor, and a lay Oblate with New Camaldoli Hermitage near Big Sur, California. Greg’s website is StrategicMonk.com, and his email address is [email protected].