I have been readind 'Velvet Elvis' by Rob Bell over the last few days and came across a section which has been making me think. He writes:
Central to the Christian experience is the art of questioning God. Not
belligerent, arrogant questions that have no respoect for our maker, but naked,
honest, vulnerable, raw questions, arising out of the awe that comes from
engaging the living God. This type of questioning frees us . . . . it
allows us to have moments . . . when the silence is enough. The
great Joshua Heschel once said, 'I did not ask for success, I asked for wonder.' The Christian faith is mysterious to the core. It is about things
and beings that ultimatley cant be put into words. Language fails . .
The mystery is the truth.
(Pages 31 - 33: Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell)
I like questions. I use questions a lot in my work. I use them a lot when I talk to God. I like to question God and I dont mind that I dont always get an answer and sometimes get answers that I really dont want to hear. To have faith means that there must be some element of mystery. We cannot and should not be able to explain scientifically all about God. That is not the way. We need the silence. We need to mystery because it is in the mystery that the realities of God become more obvious. God is love. Not just God shows love, or God wants us to love but the BIG mystery is how can God be love. That one will blow your mind. I love chocolate - does this mean that God is in my relationship with chocolate? Why not? I love my kids and my wife - does this mean that God is in my relationship with them - yes, he is! Maybe that is the point! I wrote a thing about love and people in the network blog - check it out for more . . . God is a mystery. Even though I am a scientist - I dont need to know exaclty HOW God works. Rob Bell puts it this way
Being a Christian then is more about celebrating mystery than conquering it
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