Divine Mysteries

Today we live in an age of extreme contradictions. Awesome technologies allow us to communicate instantly with other persons around the planet, and man can even send exploration projects into outer space. On the other hand, superstitious, apprehensive and insecure parts of modern society still cling to belief systems that have their taproots anchored in Bronze Age interpretations of Creation. These contradictions are like little monkey wrenches clanking around in the machinery of daily life, and thus present a constant threat to humakind's higher potential.

Hence my weblog identity--monkeywrenchthoughts--which will allow me to question, and at times even marvel at the bewildering explanations and justifications used in politics, religion, science, sex attitudes, and other pieced-together thought processes.

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Since the unknown stretches ahead for everyone, and at one time or another everyone has had moments of anxiety about what lies ahead, a fascination of the mysterious is a natural and functioning part of human life. Thus human nature tends to become captivated by puzzles and things that mystify--which may partially suggest why so many generations have been captivated and enthralled with the so-called "holy books."

Unanswered mysteries abound in all holy literature, and vagueness often serves to exert a mesmerizing control over an unquestioning audience. In addition, when tales are told from an omnimpotent viewpoint the reader is given a sense of being elevated--of being privileged to some insider knowledge. Fairytales are an excellent example of such writing techniques.

As an example, mystery is introduced in the first few lines of the Holy Bible. Indeed, by verse three (which is really the fourth actual line) of the opening book of Genesis there is presented a holy mystery that is never answered anywhere in any subsequent accounts. The enduring mystery is initiated with the words, "...and God said" this or that.

Unquestioning believers hold that creation really began when God verbalized the words "let there be light," and of course first light appeared! Apparently the light was made from some portion of nothing. Scientifically speaking, an aura of light would indeed be the first phenominon to emerge out of an involving field of energy.

All sacred mystery tales are constructed upon this writing technique. In the example of the opening of the Bible account of "beginning," the question arises, if darkness was upon the face of the deep and everything was without form and void--meaning nothing had been created--then just who could have been around to hear, let alone write down what God is said to have said?

But sacred language accounts for light and dark by avoiding explanations by saying the ways of God are mysterious and beyond mortal comprehension. With this introductory scene we understand that nothing else had yet been created. Even so it is written that God then said, "Let there be a firmament" from which he could then divide waters from waters, and this accounted for God's second day of creation labor.

Strangely, since nothing else had been created there was still no secretary or recorder on duty to take down his verbalized orders, so the mystery still remains. Nonetheless, we are told that God continued to verbalize for another four days before finally getting around to creating any creature that might have the capacity to record what he is said to have said.