Miracle and Mystery
miracle an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment
mystery something not understood or beyond understanding
These are brief definitions of matters that most have experienced or at least acknowledged. The mythical Roman god, Janus, (for whom January is named), looking back in time, may have recognized as miracles events that once were mysteries; but in facing the future could see only mystery.
It is appropriate that Janus is portrayed as having one head bearing opposite faces, for miracles and mysteries are often entwined, encircling each other as enigmas and thus eliciting conjecture from great minds throughout the centuries of human existence. It is a fascinating subject that also is relevant to 2006 C E and beyond.
I pose the following questions for your consideration and not necessarily for commentary, although your viewpoints are always welcome here.
Have you ever said only a miracle could prevent this or allow that to happen? Did that miracle come to pass? If so, do you still refer to it as "miracle" even though common events brought it about?
Have you faced a mystery and solved it? If so, was it solved because time revealed an answer? Or was it solved because someone knew and let you know?
Do you think that mystery and miracle co-exist, or are they separate? Does one of them follow the other?
Sir Thomas Browne 1605-1682 wrote
Walt Whitman 1819-1892 wrote
mystery something not understood or beyond understanding
These are brief definitions of matters that most have experienced or at least acknowledged. The mythical Roman god, Janus, (for whom January is named), looking back in time, may have recognized as miracles events that once were mysteries; but in facing the future could see only mystery.
It is appropriate that Janus is portrayed as having one head bearing opposite faces, for miracles and mysteries are often entwined, encircling each other as enigmas and thus eliciting conjecture from great minds throughout the centuries of human existence. It is a fascinating subject that also is relevant to 2006 C E and beyond.
I pose the following questions for your consideration and not necessarily for commentary, although your viewpoints are always welcome here.
Have you ever said only a miracle could prevent this or allow that to happen? Did that miracle come to pass? If so, do you still refer to it as "miracle" even though common events brought it about?
Have you faced a mystery and solved it? If so, was it solved because time revealed an answer? Or was it solved because someone knew and let you know?
Do you think that mystery and miracle co-exist, or are they separate? Does one of them follow the other?
Sir Thomas Browne 1605-1682 wrote
I love to lose myself in a mystery, to pursue my Reason...
Walt Whitman 1819-1892 wrote
To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle...
posted by marguerite louise at
2:11 PM
3 Comments:
What are miracles if not the results of common events strung together in an extraordinarily improbable design?
By
Anonymous, at 1/22/2006 6:54 PM
Bingo!
By
marguerite louise, at 1/22/2006 7:08 PM
Your essay on miracle and mystery brings to mind 4 other "M" words: Metaphysics, myth, metaphor and magic.
Yesterday, another favorite blogger, Kathleen Valentine, posted an essay on magic in the literary field and remarked: "Magic is a good thing in my opinion. We need more magical occurrences in our lives. Science is all well and good but it has its limitations. We need magic to round out the starkness of life without it. Many Americans have a well-documented fear of appearing silly, naive, or foolish. We want to make sure people know we are serious people who have the facts. We know what is going on – you can’t fool us."
On one hand, I think she's right. Industrialized cultures do tend to shun, at least formally, those phenomena that can't be immediately explained by current scientific thinking. Most of us know very little about the discipline of Metaphysics and we think myth and mystery belong in the fiction section of the library, magic belongs on the stage and miracles belong in sacred texts. But curiously, our everyday operational beliefs are often constructed on those very foundations. Who among us can honestly say we don't secretly entertain Hollywood notions about love, Homeric notions about human capabilities and maybe the most recently confronted, Dickensian notions about Christmas? Didn't you believe you could get the house in magazine photo shoot order and all those cookies baked and gifts made on time? That your kiss would turn him into a prince? That you could be a star because you had the talent, guts and grit to get through the process?
We live in the land of the 6 Ms. And the dividing lines are so blurred, we're mostly unaware when we've crossed them.
By
Anonymous, at 1/25/2006 12:11 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home