The gift of life is a mystery.  “That which is far off, and exceedingly deep, who can find it out?” (Eccl 7:24).  There is a time for everything – a time for war, and a time of peace (Eccl 3:1-8).  The Lord has measured the days of our lives (Ps. 39:5).  “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.  The grass withereth, and the flower therefore falleth away.  But the word of the Lord endureth forever” (1 Pet 1:24-25).

Astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930–2012) felt, “Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.”  What Armstrong didn’t say was that there were dimensions to understanding the vital gifts of life.  Through these, we’re able to appreciate the grandeur of God’s creation.  J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904–1967), a theoretical physicist and professor observed, “Both the man of science and the man of action live always at the edge of mystery, surrounded by it.”  Some phenomena may strike us as unexplainable, yet through God unbelievable things come to pass.

Modern Miracles

They are individuals who have endeavored to find explanations for modern miracles.  Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) encouraged such efforts when he stated, “Don’t become a mere recorder of facts, but try to penetrate the mystery of their origin.”  But still, there are miracles beyond explanation.  Some believers are sure these are acts of God that have come to light.  To them, there can be no other answer.  It doesn’t trouble them if they don’t know why miracles occur.  They will continue to believe in the biblical teachings of faith.

Mysteries may not always relate to positive results.  There can be dreadful acts that keep us wondering about God.  Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948), a preeminent leader of Indian Independence movement, reflected, “It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings.”  We may ask why nations fight wars when they are so dreadful.  Innocent people suffer, towns are destroyed, and many thousands killed, or wounded.  Still, there are wars.  This is a mystery, but how can we stand such tragedy?

Our Connectedness

Marion Cotillard (b. 1975), a French actress and songwriter said, “I think the Earth and everything around it is connected – the sky and the planets and the stars and everything else we see as a mystery.”  Men and women continue to reflect on what this connectedness means.  These mysteries are always before us.  We embrace these, but still we’re unable to make sense of them.  We must glorify some phenomena as gifts that are beyond our comprehension.

It’s often said that there are different sides to a story.  One of those sides is in our world.  An Irish playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) wrote, “The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.”  Some people may speculate if the visual world is so incomprehensible, just imagine what the invisible is like.

Max Planck (1858–1947), a German theoretical physicist thought, “Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature.  And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.”  Mankind is faced with mysteries within mysteries.  Trying to decipher these are problematic, and often without adequate answers.