-- Aldous Huxley
Wouldn't it be great if everyone's belief system began and ended in mystery? No more divisive beliefs. No more clinging to fairy tales about virgin births, resurrections, heaven and hell. No more "My God is better than your God," competitive bullshit. Just a calm acceptance that we can't really know the answers to life's biggest questions. Life is, at its core, a mystery.
Why is that last statement, a statement that is so obviously true, so hard to live with? Why do people crave certainty, flee ambiguity, and embrace some downright crazy beliefs, in an attempt to avoid mystery? Don't they see the "sort of divine quality" to which Aldous refers?
Most people, approach mystery as a conundrum to be solved. Or at least resolved. But what if mystery is there to be marveled at, enjoyed, and embraced? No need to grapple with it, merely recognize it. "Hi, Mystery. Glad you're here." Not, "Mystery, you scary son of a bitch, I'm going to annihilate you as soon as possible."
Most beliefs divide us into warring camps -- believers versus non believers. Only the belief in mystery unites. If it's all a big, friggin' mystery, then we're all in this together, and no one has the right, or even the need, to impose their parochial ideas of God, religion, or life upon anyone else.
Awash in mystery, we relax and enjoy each other's company, enjoy life, enjoy the ride. No one knows why we're here. Let's have a beer. And toast to the people of the mystery, one and all.
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