Mystery

In my pastoral care course at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary this past semester, I encountered a profound, yet simple truth about humanity. Humans are all alike in certain ways, some are alike and different from others in some ways, and even so, each person is completely unique in still other ways. You might be thinking, “Wow, thank you Mr. obvious,” but I found this particular truth and the inherent tension in it quite helpful. Another way of thinking about it is that in any particular conversation or interaction, I or you might be able to identify or empathize with exactly what someone is saying or explaining, some of what they are sharing, and none of what they are trying to communicate all at the same time. This realization of my own limitation is both a call to humility and a foundational energy for curiosity.

Another idea or concept that we learned in class is alterity, or the mystery of another person. I can never fully know or understand another person’s experience or sense of self, any more than another person can ever know me fully. Another way that we talk about this, especially in marriage, is that the longer that we know someone, the more we realize how much we are still getting to know them and the more that we continue to grow in our love for them.

After arriving at Easter and finishing this past Lenten series, all of the above ideas are coming together. The alterity or mystery of God is the example, from which each of us was created because each human is God’s image-bearer. Though we seek to follow God’s ways more faithfully as we have during Lent, we will never fully know the God that we see and experience most clearly in Jesus. Thus, when we encounter another person, our greatest challenge will always be to honor the depths of who that person is, no matter our assumptions about them, as a reflection of the great mystery of who God is. Put another way, we seek to love God, love our neighbors, and love even our enemies faithfully.