Mystery

Dear Adeline,

Mystery brings a life of adventure and love. A life devoid of it is anesthetic. Like a hospital surgery room it is cold, lifeless, and perfectly safe.

Many play whack-a-mole with mystery. They stamp it out. They trade the unknown for control and safety. This is misery.

Some mercilessly beat unpredictability out of their marriages by creating their personal terms & conditions. A dynamic relationship is replaced with an intricate set of rules. They studiously grind the unpredictable and wonder why the other is no longer lovely. They wonder where the spark went. How could they have ever loved this person in the first place?

Others do this with their children. They bind their kids to specific appointed roles. Some children glue the family together while others provide comic relief. Some kids are set up as the family scapegoat. Their roles are set and the slightest deviation is met with swift retribution. These sad, fearful parents, clamp down and mercilessly develop a family of role-players, not a family of adventure-seekers.

Still others do this with God. Everything must neatly fit into an intricate theological system that serves to sate the mind, not ignite the soul. To these people, a mysterious God is unacceptable. Tragically, they replace authentic relationship with scholarship and become disillusioned when God ceases to be lovely. Adeline, if you decide to follow God, let him confound you.

Fear of the unknown is the mortal enemy of adventure and mystery. Those caught in its icy grip suffocate everything with potential to awaken their hearts. They flee the unknown and never go on an adventure. Live in fear and watch as your technicolor life flickers to darkness.

Take courage my little girl. Let your heart fly. Be bold. The unexpected is bearing down with the certainty of a six-foot breaker. Yes, you could scamper for the safety of the sand to watch it pass. Or, you can mount your surfboard and give it hell.

Mystery; either face it or flee. I would have you lock its gaze and give it a cocky grin. You will fall. You will also get back up. But unlike that scared little girl sitting in the sand, your eyes will sparkle.

Adventure or safety, the choice is yours.