oh, sweet mystery of love at last i found you! a scene from "young frankenstein" has teri garr sing that phrase when she 'experiences' the transformed gene wilder for the first time. it was ridiculously hilarious! and yet the words are curiously profound.
life includes many mysteries... personality development, afterlife, evil, relationships etc., that most of us have tried to understand, figure out, and resolve. of course, no one has come up with satisfying or convincing answers. i find love to be the most mysterious of all.
love has been defined in terms thoughts, as feelings, and as actions. it can be as shallow as 'i love peanut butter' or as deep as 'i love my partner, child, or parent'. most of us have experienced love in a variety of ways, but words to define or adequately describe it fail us. the bible teaches that god is love. does that mean that to know god is to know love? that god really is a synonym for love? who really knows?
perhaps even trying to define or describe love is futile as it is frustrating. why? love perhaps is the greatest mystery of all and mysteries by definition cannot be explained. so what is the point of trying to define it... to put it in a labeled container... to understand it.
allow me to state that love is simply a mystery to be experienced and not questioned. love and mystery were never meant to be separated. they are forever linked together. as such, to allow ourselves simply to experience love is to enjoy the greatest benefits of this mystery.
when giving a gift to someone, a simple 'thank you' is the best thing the receiver can give. on the other hand, to hear responses like "you didn't have to do that" or "i didn't get you anything", or "why did you give me this?" spoils the moment.
in the same way, allowing ourselves simply to experience love from others connects us directly to the mystery of it all. teri didn't sing, "oh, sweet mystery of love at last i can define you". that would have gone over like green cottage cheese. rather, she embraced the mystery as she did the monster. ok, i just couldn't resist that comparison.
love freely, embracing it as mysterious and delicious!
teri garr and gene wilder:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcvHjmLLNxQ
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