Saying “Yes” to Mystery ©
Reverend Janet Parsons
Gloucester UU Church
December 3, 2023
The other day the Washington Post reported that a lobsterman in Maine had pulled up a two-colored lobster. The lobsterman, named Jacob Knowles, was fascinated by his discovery and took to social media to display his catch. Not only is the lobster colored red on one side of its body and blue on the other, with a sharp and clear line down the center, but each side of its body has a different sex. For the record, the blue side of its body is male. The red half is female.
In case you are wondering, and I assume you are, there are certain clues that help to determine the sex of a lobster. People who know these things recognize the appearance of some of the legs on the abdomen, and also by the shape of its tail. Each half of this lobster’s tail either curls under or splays out differently. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/11/30/lobster-maine-gender-color-bowie/)
I hope that you will remember this the next time anyone asks you if you ever learn anything in church.
The news about the lobster created quite a splash on Instagram and TikTok. Jacob Knowles started a naming contest, and it was decided to name the lobster ‘Bowie’ after David Bowie. I especially enjoyed reading some of the comments from readers, including the relief expressed that the lobster had been found in Maine and not in Florida or Texas.
Had I been asked, I might have said something to the effect that this country is so divided that even the crustaceans are split into red and blue.
I shared the story of Bowie the Lobster to remind us that we live each day surrounded by mystery and wonder. Part of the beauty of this is that we never know, from one moment to another, when we will be confronted with sights and sounds and stories that give us tiny glimpses of all we do not know, and do not understand.
“Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers,” wrote our poet. (Mary Oliver, “Mysteries, Yes”)
“Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.”
Those of you who have been in conversation with me over the years know that I am someone always drawn to paradox. I enjoy the process of encountering a paradox, the teasing apart of an idea that can lead us in two contradictory directions. As I have been thinking about how to approach the concept of Mystery this week, I have thought and read a lot about how most of us are drawn to knowledge. We value scientific inquiry and discovery. We strive to learn more and more, and to understand the workings of the world around us. And yet. It can seem that the more we learn, the more we see of all we do not yet understand. We grasp at the glimpses we receive, and they open up to yet more questions. Back in 1887 English scientist T. H. Huxley wrote, “The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet – small island – in the midst of an…ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land.” (in Cosmos, Carl Sagan, p.1.)
I hear in those words the openness to discovery, the curiosity, written almost 150 years ago. And I also hear humility: the sense that we humans have so very far to go in our discoveries, in our attempts to explore our universe, to gain knowledge. To gain more land, as Huxley put it, in the ocean. But what if our every attempt at knowledge enlarges the ocean?
When we are aware of mystery, of all we do not understand, when we are aware of the universe expanding even as we gain knowledge, we are approaching wisdom. Interestingly, knowledge does not make us wise. Wisdom emerges from our realization of all we do not know. The poet Wendell Berry put it this way – “We must abandon arrogance and stand in awe. We must recover the sense of the majesty of creation, and the ability to be worshipful in its presence.”
In our culture people often think that science and religion can’t exist side by side, that they are entirely separate. Often, people will fear that scientific knowledge will erode religious belief. But in reading the words of scientists such as Carl Sagan and astrophysicist Neil deGrass Tyson, it’s clear that their growing knowledge led them to be more aware and more accepting of all the mysteries and unknowns of our cosmos. More accepting, not less. Abandoning arrogance and standing in awe. They wrote easily about the awe they felt as new worlds open. What is more religious than feelings of awe and wonder?
As Father Richard Rohr points out, in contrast it can be people of the deepest religious belief who are the least accepting of all the mystery. As he put it, “many religious folks insist on answers that are always true. We love closure, resolution and, clarity, while thinking that we are people of “faith”! How strange that the very word “faith” has come to mean its exact opposite.” (https://onbeing.org/blog/richard-rohr-utterly-humbled-by-mystery/)
This is reminding me of a bumper sticker that reads: “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” If whoever designed that bumper sticker, or those who display it on their cars, were asked about their religion, no doubt they would say that they are a person of faith. But in fact, they are talking like a person of certainty. And someone lacking in humility.
Some will tell us, as Father Rohr mentioned, that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but rather, certainty. For certainty permits no ambiguity, no discussion, no wondering. There is no room for mystery. Faith, however, tells us that we can question and explore, even as we can have trust – trust perhaps in the divine, or trust perhaps in the knowledge that the cosmos continues to unfold as it is meant to. And that this process will continue whether or not we know exactly how that works, or what happens next. It will continue as we acquire bits of knowledge, from research, from the Hubble Telescope or the James Webb Space Telescope. Or from random encounters such as finding a very unusual lobster.
Speaking of the lobster, one intense focus of the religiously certain is on human sexuality and gender. They are certain about bathrooms and youth sports. “There are only two sexes,” they say. “There are only two genders. It’s what’s natural.” Well, the appearance of Bowie the Lobster should offer us a glimpse into a broader view of how nature works, and of the possibilities that exist that we suddenly became slightly more aware of. Perhaps nature isn’t as rigid, as either blue or red, as certain, as is being proclaimed. And of course, the response of genuinely religious people might be to gasp in wonder, rather than maybe forbidding science teachers from mentioning a two-sexed lobster.
“Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.” (Mary Oliver, Mysteries, Yes)
Over the years Unitarian Universalists could also be focused on certainty. Some of our most commonly used language comes from our 4th Principle, which calls for ‘a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.’ We can also be certain – not of the words in the Bible, but certain of knowledge and science. And of course, that is a good thing. Ever since the theory of evolution became widely known, Unitarians embraced it, and we UU’s continue to celebrate knowledge and science. Sometimes, though, we might exhibit the same kind of fear we are naming in the religiously certain folks. Where they might fear knowledge, we might fear wonder. We can also lack humility in the face of the unknown, to forget to bow our heads. We sometimes need reminders to leave room for mystery, for awe and wonder. To look at the night sky and feel small, to witness the movement of the tides, the waxing and waning of the moon, and to feel that we are a part of something much greater than ourselves.
Last spring the Meetinghouse Foundation offered us an amazing event that showed images from the Webb Telescope accompanied by organ music. It was stirring, awe-inspiring, and emotional. We felt the impact of the beauty and the mystery in the images. In fact, the presentation created a deeply religious experience. Scientific knowledge and religious impulse came together and lifted us beyond our rigid thinking about one versus the other.
We UU’s mention our seven Principles frequently, but we are less likely to mention the six Sources we draw from as a foundation. If you want to take a look at those, they are printed in the gray hymnal right before the first hymn. Our first source, the very first, reads: “Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces that create and uphold life.”
We are currently considering replacing our Principles and Sources with new language. And our emphasis on mystery and wonder is still present, with this proposed language: “Direct experiences of transcending mystery and wonder are primary sources of Unitarian Universalist inspiration. These experiences open our hearts, renew our spirits, and transform our lives. We draw upon, and are inspired by, sacred, secular, and scientific understandings that help us make meaning and live into our values.”
Experiences. Inspiration. Making meaning and living into our values. Religious words, directly influenced by scientific understanding.
My friends, we continue to learn throughout our lives. We hunger for knowledge, and for wisdom. And if we are fortunate, and wise, we learn how to hold both concrete knowledge and a sense of mystery in balance. To allow ourselves to feel, to share our excitement, and to bow our heads. To understand that a rare lobster has a genetic mutation, and at the same time, to be able to say, “Wow, look at that!”
Father Richard Rohr concluded his essay with these words: “My belief and comfort is in the depths of Mystery, which should be the very task of religion.” To be in awe of scientific discovery, to be moved by music, to gaze at the sky in wonder, are all religious tasks. Awe and mystery and knowledge can exist side by side. When we are able to achieve that balance, we can know wisdom. And we can know what it means to be truly, genuinely religious.Top of Form
Blessed Be.
Amen.
