"Everybody’s wonderin’ what and where they all came from.
Everybody’s worryin’ ’bout where they’re gonna go when the whole thing’s done.
But no one knows for certain and so it’s all the same to me.
I think I’ll just let the mystery be."  Iris Dement

Earlier in the week I heard this song played on the Morning Show on MPR. It’s a song that is played with a sporadic regularity and always provides an opportunity for reflection…and a little chuckle.I have logged more than my share of hours in discussions/arguments with well meaning people about the subject of the song: Who am I? How was ‘it’ all created and who did the creating? What happens after we die? Is there a heaven? Is there a hell? How do we end up in one place or the other? I, in fact, was engaged in just such a conversation this past week with someone I didn’t really know, over one of the finest meals I’ve ever eaten. While interesting, fun and sometimes challenging, these questions, at least for me, never end in any certainty.

I recognize that certainty is very important for some people and I make no judgment about that. The other day I was sitting in my car next to another woman who had taken a bumper sticker and placed in on the sun visor of the driver’s seat. Every time she pulled the visor down to block the sun she was confronted with the words: Truth is not Relative: Truth is Truth. I was able to glimpse this…upside down…right before she pulled the visor to block the sunshine.I sat in my car after she drove off wondering about the impact of having those words in such close vision. What can that mean to her? What comfort does she derive from those words? What led her to put the words there where they were always in plain view? I pray the words bring her whatever she needs to live a full, healthy life.

As for me, I think I might be more comfortable hanging out with Iris Dement. We could sit around and talk about all the important and ultimate issues of life. We might have tea and mull over the many times we have experienced heaven right here, right now. As for me, I’ve been in heaven at least a dozen times this week. We might also speculate about hell….the times in our lives when darkness and despair was the food of our days. But hopefully we would put on our coats and head to our cars without much certainty coursing through our veins. Instead, we might look up at the night sky and see the sight of the Big Dipper twinkling away or look at the Moon with its haze of the last few nights. Gazing skyward we might smile and know, that for us, Mystery is just fine.

It promises to be a more springlike weekend. As I look out into our backyard, the tulips and the irises are growing despite the seemingly never-ending winter. Their bold green against the dull brown matted grass is a sight for sore eyes. Ah…..Mystery.

Keep your eyes wide open……