Problem versus Mystery

Last updated Aug 15, 2023

• Source: Atlas/Maps/DLQ 10 MOC
• Keywords: Cards/permanent notes
• Relevant Notes:
  • Module 1A
    • Cards/Absolute Certainty versus Wonder: the 2 ways we can approach a mystery
    • Cards/Order and Chaos: problems are typically solved through order, while mysteries make you embrace the chaos (of its nature)
    • Cards/Perfectionism: Perfectionists lose their sense of mystery.
    • Cards/Desire: Desires help us create the story of our lives; perfectionism bars us from this, leaving us with no more story to tell.
  • Module 1B
    • Cards/The First Principle and Foundation:
    • Cards/Discernment:
    • Cards/Desolation:
    • Cards/Consolation:
    • Cards/Disordered attachments
  • Module 2
    • Cards/Tangibles: If we treat the question “Who am I?” as a problem, we answer with our tangibles. But if we treat “Who am I?” as a mystery, we acknowledge that there is more to us than this constructed persona
    • Cards/The Divided Life: Life is full of mysteries, not just problems. Tackling these mysteries requires personal investment, which we are unable to provide when we live The Divided Life.
    • Cards/Brokenness: Gaining more knowledge about a mystery requires personal investment, and experiencing brokenness can lead us to this
    • Cards/The False Self: when we perceive people as problems to be solved, we are treating them as their False Selves. when we acknowledge that people are mysteries, we are treating them as their True Selves.
    • Cards/Self-rejection: When we reject ourselves, we treat ourselves as a problem. Accepting that we are mysteries is crucial for getting to truly know ourselves

• Problem: begins with not knowing, and ends with knowing
  • E.G. handling an org project
  • Can be solved from a disinterested/impersonal standpoint
• Mystery: begins with not knowing, and leads to ==more knowing==
  • E.G. knowing your mother
  • Must invade the person who inquires about it; you need ==commitment/investment== in seeking deeper understanding.
  • can be approached through 2 dispositions: Cards/Absolute Certainty versus Wonder
• God is a paradox, for he is both transcendent and personal.
  • We see his personal side through Jesus, who is God made incarnate.

The world is full of mysteries, not just problems. The world is also full of paradoxes & complementaries. Therefore, What we know is always limited.

Mysteries are approached with a sense of wonder. And this wonder is undergirded by a disposition of humility.

See Cards/Absolute Certainty versus Wonder

We need to stop black-and-white thinking. While there is nothing wrong with simplifying a complex world, there is such a thing as oversimplification.