In the secular world a mystery is something which baffles or eludes understanding, something which lies hidden or undisclosed. Now the usual attitude of the world toward mystery is to solve it, get to the bottom of it or uncover it. Mysteries must be overcome! The riddle of “who-done-it” must be solved.
In the religious world mystery is something a bit different. Here mystery refers to something partially revealed, but much of which lies hidden. Mystery may partially, or in some cases, completely escape what we can know by our intellect alone and unaided by God. So, a mystery is something partially revealed by God but much more of which lies hidden.
Mysteries are to Be Savored, not Solved. For the Christian then, mysteries are not something to solved or overcome so much as to appreciate and reverence. In the worldly notion of mystery it is something to approach with perseverance and the smarts to conquer. But the mysteries of faith are something to be considered with humility and reverence realizing we can never exhaust their meaning or capture and conquer their full essence. A few thought on the mysteries of faith:
1. Consider the picture at the upper right of the iceberg and allow it to be an image for the mysteries of faith. Above the water line we see something of the iceberg, but beneath the waterline, remains much more, hid from our eyes (except in a picture like this).
