"I think I'll just let the mystery be..."

"Everybody's wonderin' what
and where they all came from.
Everybody's worryin' 'bout where
they're gonna go when the whole thing's done.
But no one knows for certain
and so it's all the same to me.
I think I'll just let the mystery be..."

I love this song by Iris DeMent (Mary Huckins of Dakota Blonde sings a great version of it on their Something Simple CD).  Whether we think we know what happens following the transition called death, or we just wonder about it…a lot, its often a topic that rattles around in thought much too often.  I find it is especially persistent in bidding for our attention after the passing of a loved one, or when our own mortality demons poke at us from behind the ajar door of a closeted fear…almost like the characters in Monsters, Inc. whose entire reason for being is to keep children from resting peacefully.  Even when we have had "near death" experiences we return from with new insights, we often then question "what happens after those first transitional moments?"…"what happens beyond that?". 

Whenever I hear this song, I am reminded of an experience I had during an intensive course on spiritual healing I was enrolled in many years ago.  The teacher was wise and kind, and I was honored to be enrolled in the class.  It was a small class and he allowed much time, and opportunity, for discussion and questions.  It was really conducted more like a workshop or seminar, rather than after a traditional instructional pedagogical model.

One of my fellow students had experienced the passing of a loved one just prior to the start of our class, and during our days together of thinking through spiritual existence, healing and salvation, seemed to be pre-occupied with questions about death and the after-life.  "What happens after you "pass on"?  "Will we see our loved ones after we "pass on"?  "Do we have a body after we "pass on"? And so on. 

Our teacher was compassionate and patient with this line of inquiry day after day, but one afternoon, well into the second week he stopped the flow of conversation when our friend asked yet another death related question.  He lovingly said something that has stayed with me…as much of what I took from that course has…for over 20 years.  He said, "If you were to ask as many questions about Life…as  you are about death…death would no longer be a question for you."

Those of us who harbored the same questions and had been grateful that someone else was asking them, but were just too self-conscious to ask them ourselves (i.e. me!) were sobered by that answer.  Hmmm…I had been asking myself (and God) more questions about death than Life, thinking more about how to overcome lack than pondering the nature of God as infinite and abundantly supplying Love, worrying more about how to combat apathy than thankful for all the indications of vision, service, leadership, and passion…all around me…in the world today. 

This really changed my approach to how I pondered the universe, searched for direction in my inner (and outer) life, and contemplated the path towards realizing wholeness and healing in my own life and in the lives of others.

Was I trying to understand the concept of death so that I could battle it…in all it's subtle and insidious forms, or was I so conscious of the nature and verity of Life that death…Life's opposite, it's absence…was no longer a question for me. I want to know about Life...what it is like to live a life that is loving, full, alive with promise. That's what I want to contemplate, ponder and reflect. This is the thinking I want to see as fully occupying my consciousness.

I love the word "mystery".  As my once-upon-a-time-little-girl used to read it from the spine of a Nancy Drew novel when she'd go to the bookshelf and ask…"mommy can we read a my-story".  I think the only mystery in life is in letting God unfold your story to you…in His time and in His way.  I love that I have had so many experiences, so many my-stories, that have proven to me the eternality of life, the power of peace, the presence of health….that have provoked me to consider the nature of God.  So I'm sticking with my-story…my truth and what I am learning as I ponder Life to be enough…to ponder…today.

I think I'll just let "my story" be…whatever God is revealing to me of His allness, presence and power…and "think on these things"…

Enjoy the rest of Iris DeMent's lyrics for "Let the Mystery Be"…provocative, funny, deep, profound…my kind of song!

"...Some say once you're gone
you're gone forever,
and some say you're gonna come back.
Some say you rest in the arms of the Saviour
if in sinful ways you lack.
Some say that they're comin' back in a garden,
bunch of carrots and little sweet peas.
I think I'll just let the mystery be.

Some say they're goin'
to a place called Glory
and I ain't saying it ain't a fact.
But I've heard that I'm on the road to purgatory
and I don't like the sound of that.
Well, I believe in love
and I live my life accordingly.
But I choose to let the mystery be.

Everybody's wonderin' what
and where they all came from.
Everybody's worryin'
'bout where they're gonna go
when the whole thing's done.
But no one knows for certain
and so it's all the same to me.
I think I'll just let the mystery be.
I think I'll just let the mystery be."

Don't you love it…"bunch of carrots and little sweet peas"…priceless!
Kate