I Love a Mystery 

So, on beyond Z! 

It’s high time you were shown, 

That you really don’t know, 

All there is to be known. 

—Dr. Seuss, On Beyond Zebra!

Physicists working in the realm of quantum theory tell us that we may not live in an "either/or" universe, but one that is "both/and." In fact, the next generation of computers may not be binary (+/-), but trinary (+/- μ), employing a third category of reality that is not one thing, or the other, but both.

I’m not qualified to judge the theorem, but it makes sense to me. Consider this:

Is Jesus human or divine? He is both.

Is God one or three? He is both.

Is God sovereign, or is man free? Both are true.

Is it quietism or activism that moves us toward godlikeness? It is both

Is it human effort, or the Holy Spirit that empowers our work? It is both.

Is the Kingdom of God present or future? It is both.

Hard to understand? Impossible. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy, Hamlet said. ’Tis mystery all” and we must leave it that way. 

George MacDonald’s father sent a letter to his son concerning the mystery of God’s sovereignty and man’s free will: “[I cannot] bear to see that which is evidently mystery torn to pieces by those who believe that there is no mystery in the Scriptures and therefore attempt to explain away what it is evidently for the honor of God to conceal. I see so much of mystery in nature, and so much of it in myself, that it would be proof to my mind that the Scriptures were not from God were there nothing in them beyond the grasp of my own mind” (May 31, 1850).

We should never question the truth of things we do not yet understand for much is beyond the grasp of our minds. Mystery can lead us astray, or it can lead us to wonder, adoration and worship. As a friend of mine once mused, “It may be that all our questions can be resolved by one word: "Behold!"

David Roper

2.22.19