Wednesday, January 11, 2012

MYSTERY AND WONDER

We wake, if ever at all, to mystery.
Annie Dillard

Driven by a desire to be completely liberated from the cultural provincialism of the American south, where I was born and spent my early years, I have dedicated much of my life to the pursuit of knowledge.  Seldom, if ever, have I questioned the metaphorical truth of Shakespeare's observation in Henry VI that "ignorance is the curse of God, knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven . . . "

Now, however, as I approach the end of my seventh decade, I'm less inclined to see ignorance and knowledge as some kind of binary choice.  Ignorance and knowledge can only be intelligently discussed in relative terms, and they usually walk hand in hand throughout our lives.  Regardless of one's level of education, what one knows is always dwarfed by what one does not know.  Our most profound questions always seem hydra-headed; slay one and two more will arise in its place.  Perhaps Plato's observation still holds true: "The learning and knowledge that we have, is, at the most, but little compared with that of which we are ignorant."

And consider this:  In his recent book—The 4% Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality—science historian and writer Richard Panek states that only four percent of the universe consists of matter that makes up you, me, the earth, the stars, the planets, and the galaxies, everything within the ambit of our current knowledge.  The remaining ninety-six percent, referred to by cosmologists as dark matter and dark energy, is unknown.  What's even more stunning, many of the world's most prominent scientists believe that it will continue to remain unknown.

In short—with all of our scientific advancements, with all of our technological discoveries, with all of our penetrations into the worlds of quantum physics—we know only a small fraction of the universe in which we spin our lives.  What we know is wrapped in the larger mystery of what we do not know and may never know.

Set forth below are some interesting observations on the the subject of learning and knowledge on the one hand, versus mystery and wonder on the other.  I have punctuated these quotes with abstract photos in which I have attempted to capture at least a hint of some of the mystery of which I speak.  With the exception of the header photo, all of these images were created by panning my camera at slow shutter speeds across man-made lights against dark backgrounds.  Limited light against a background of infinite darkness seems to be an appropriate metaphor for our place in this mysterious universe.



The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery.  There is always more mystery.
Anais Nin

Until we accept the fact that life itself is founded in mystery, we shall learn nothing.
Henry Miller



A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.
Charles Dickens

A day spent without the sight or sound of beauty, the contemplation of mystery, or the search of truth or perfection, is a poverty-stricken day; and a succession of such days if fatal to human life.
Lewis Mumford


Mystery is a resource, like coal or gold, and its preservation if a fine thing.
Tom Cahill

I do not at all understand the mystery of grace—only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.
Anne Lamott 



Any genuine philosophy leads to action and from action back again to wonder, to the enduring fact of mystery.
Henry Miller

The approach of a man's life out of the past is history, and the approach of time out of the future is mystery.  Their meeting is the present, and it is consciousness, the only time life is alive.  The endless wonder of this meeting is what causes the mind, in its inward liberty of a frozen morning, to turn back and question and remember.  The world is full of places. Why is it that I am here?
Wendell Berry




The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious.  It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science.  He who knows it not and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead.
Albert Einstein 

God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.
Dag Hammarskjold 



The final mystery is oneself.
Oscar Wilde

34 comments:

  1. Great quotes. Your images are excellent.

    I've been reading a lot about Higgs boson, which I find fascinating (I wrote a poem about the quest to find it). I hope we don't ever find every answer we're looking for. Often, the answer, when found, is far less illuminating than our search for it.

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  2. Thanks for your supportive comments, MAUREEN. I agree with you totally. I hope we never find all of the answers, and I feel very confident that we will not. What would our lives be without mystery and wonder?

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  3. "What we know is wrapped in the larger mystery of what we do not know and may never know.'

    You said it! Lately I've been thinking that accepting that mystery with awe and grace is the only thing to do. Thanks for your reflections and the marvelous quotes.

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    1. Thanks for dropping by, MAGGIE, and thanks for the generous comments. Acceptance with awe and grace—there's no better way to engage life and find joy in it.

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  4. All I can say is wow ('was gonna say holy cow..but thought better..opps!) You took a bit of a break, questioning to continue or not etc. Well, all I can say is it was worth the wait and then some. Your last few posts, now combined with the pics are awesome. Thanks for keeping on keeping on. For what I learn from your photos alone, I'd keep coming back.

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  5. You always raise such interesting questions, George, that challenge my brain to grasp onto what I think I already understand and leap into the darkness of mystery. To think that only 4% of the universe is "knowable" is amazing to me. (That would make the % of what most of us "know" so minute.) Humbling! As for the photos, I am always in awe of your artistic expression. Of course, now I want to try that, too.

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  6. I'm lost in these colors, George. Absolutely lost. And extremely happy to be.

    (I don't even want or need to know what they are abstractions of.)

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  7. Thanks, KAREN. I'm delighted that you've enjoyed my last few posts. Stay tuned—there's more to come.

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  8. Thanks for your supportive comments, BARB! Yes, I, too, was humbled to learn that 96% of the universe is unknown. And many thanks for you nice comments on the photos. I heartily recommend experimenting with panning at slow shutter speeds. Most of what you get initially may be unsatisfactory, but you will soon learn how to use this creative tool effectively.

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  9. Thanks, RUTH! So glad you got lost in the colors of the photos. Abstract images can be engaging, I find, when we let go of the need to identify an object.

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  10. Such a nice, vibrant presentation. Your thoughts intertwined with your photo-abstraction,mingled with the quotations.Mystery and wonder are indeed so sweet. Your post is a celebration!

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  11. Thanks so much, HERRINGBONE! Your supportive comments are deeply appreciated.

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  12. Thanks, RUTH, for helping me work through these technical problems. As you can see, your comment came through.

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  13. As mentionned in our e-mail exchange, this is a stellar post. Apart from your wonderful photographs and perfectly paired quotations, it is your "steady radiance" that I so appreciate. You are ever able to shine a light on what is dark, helping us to embrace and honor it.

    Namaste George.

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  14. Thanks, BONNIE. You're very kind and, of course, I am delighted that you like this post. Namaste to you as well. Love that word!

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  15. For me, a perfect post, George. I did so enjoy it. Nicely written, and those photographs — well, they are absolute stupendous. I lost myself in them. If we are ignorant of most things, and seem destined always to be so, then at least we know the wisdom and delight to be found in your blog; and for that we must be truly grateful.

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  16. Thanks so much for you generous comments, Robert. Strange, isn't it, how we cut our way through the jungles of ignorance in search of knowledge, only to find that we must ultimately surrender to the divine mystery of things.

    I'm especially delighted that you liked the photos. One never knows how others will respond to abstraction. Like you, however, I can usually get pleasantly lost in it.

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  17. Your photographs are the perfect illustrations for the ideas you're putting forth. Perfect. I love them.

    I also appreciate your response to Robert about "cutting through the jungles of ignorance in search of knowledge, only to find that we must ultimately surrender to the divine mystery of things."

    I've come back to this post three times in order to articulate my thoughts, but, as usual, articulating spiritual ideas within the context of language is impossible, but I do want to say, that one of the ideas that crossed my mind was, What if the darkness we see as the 96% is really the Light? What if we're reversing it in some odd refractive way because of how we perceive things? It's my belief that what we don't see holds core truths about our spiritual existence, our true existence. It's a metaphor, if you will, for the divine mystery.

    While I continue to seek what's beyond that veil, I am enjoying this life Immensely, all of it reflecting some greater, truer idea, of which this material existence is a counterpart.

    Thank you, George, for another fascinating post.

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  18. Thanks for your thoughtful comments, TERESA. I think there is clearly light to be found, both physically and spiritually, in the 96% referred to by cosmologists as either dark matter or dark energy. I think the cosmologists are using "dark" in the sense of the unknown and perhaps impenetrable, not in the sense of a physical absence of light. The fact is, we don't what is encompassed within the 96%. I, for one, embrace this mystery and find that it gives a special meaning to our temporal lives here on earth. I've never subscribed to the notion than man is the sum of all things.

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  19. You quote some of my very favorite people. Life is not so much a problem to be solved so much as it is something to be lived, but it seems I keep wanting to solve the problem. It's like it is in our nature to seek and not merely accept on face value.

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  20. Thanks, RUBYE JACK. Glad you found some wisdom of value in the people whose words are featured in this post. Personally, I never want to be without wonder, and that, of course, requires mystery.

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  21. I love these shots and the quotes George. The older one gets the more one thinks along these lines I think. Hope I can get this comment on to your blog.

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  22. How boring life would be if there was no mystery to it. I absolutely believe that we shall never know everything and a good thing too. A little less striving after knowledge and a little more appreciation of and care for what we have around us would be a good thing all round.

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  23. Thanks for the comments, PAT. Everything came through. And, yes, one thinks more about mystery and wonder as one gets older.

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  24. Thanks for your thoughtful comments, ROWAN. I like your idea of less striving after knowledge and more care and protection for what we know, what we have.

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  25. The human quest for knowledge is a wonderful thing - as long as we don't expect it to lead us anywhere significant. Ask your zen master; he knows better.

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  26. Thanks, NICK. Yes, knowledge is a wonderful thing—it's been both a delight and an enrichment of my own life—but we must always proceed in the humility of knowing that we know very little in the larger scheme of things.

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  27. George, I love this celebration of the unknown. I think the pursuit of knowledge is most satisfying when one respects the unknown.
    In retrospect, this must be one of the most valuable lessons I learned in college. I was amazed to discover that the more I learned, the more I realized how little I knew. Thank you for this beautiful reminder.

    Your abstract photos, depicting light against dark, with clarity and mystery all at the same time, illustrate your message superbly. My favorite photo here is the third. I respect how smooth the arc of the motion was. The resulting reeds of light are inspiring.

    Happy New Year, George!

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  28. Thanks for your kind and thoughtful comments, DUTCHBABY! I especially appreciate your compliments on the abstract photos. The third photo is also my favorite of this series. Happy New Year!

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  29. I love Albert Einstein and Oscar Wilde!!

    When my 19 year old son visits home from college, he is so full of "wisdom" I am convinced my tiny % of knowledge must be shrinking every day! :)

    And how FUN is that photography! I hope a few of those pieces are hanging on someone's walls!

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  30. Thanks for your kind comments, MARGARET! Glad you liked the photos.

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  31. This post was a great introduction to your blog. I will be back! I loved all the quotes and saved them to my quote file for future reference.

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  32. Thanks, Grace. Nice to have you stopping by, and I hope you will make a return visit.

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