We Need Mystery and Magic in Our Lives
The unknown and the unexplainable
In this world of facts, and data, and science, and knowable proofs, we need the unknown. We need ghosts and aliens, and the unexplainable. Scientists, mathematicians, rational people put everything in boxes and file them neatly away with labels and theories, but there are things in this life which none of our knowledge can explain.
For example, ghosts. The belief in ghosts can be traced back to ancient cultures around the world. While there are many scientific attempts at rational explanations for ghost sightings, not all reports of ghosts can be fully explained. And, if they were all explained, there will always be sceptics who do not accept the explanations because they experienced something they believe is real.
Scientists and psychologists have studied love and attraction and have produced theories trying to explain why people fall in love with another person, but not all relationships can be explained through science or psychology. Some people’s love is inexplicable.
Why do we instantly like or dislike another person we have just met? Why do we remember some events, some people, some places and forget others? Why does something long forgotten suddenly come to mind without any prompting? Science produces explanations, but sometimes the explanations don’t really explain why.
Why is Mother Nature such a talented artist and yet also such a deadly force that she kills millions every year through natural disasters and disease? Why do some bad people live long lives, and why do some good people die young? Do science or logic explain these things?
What magic creates kindred spirits in spite of many differences in beliefs and experiences and age? Have you read satisfactory explanations for people who claim to remember past lives and can verify details they remember from another time? Certainly, there are some explanations for some cases, but not for all.
Why are we here at all? Does science provide an acceptable answer? Does logic explain everything? Does religion offer a reliable answer? Magic explains the unexpected and illogical.
Are we really just a bunch of useless organisms revolving around on a rock that’s floating in the vastness of space and there’s nothing, no point to our existence? Or is there something that explains why we are here? Religions, modern and ancient, claim to offer the right answers, yet why are there so many different religions and why don’t they all agree? Is it because humans have created their own answers instead of believing the one right answer?
What magic makes a baby smile just when its mother needs an emotional boost to help her endure the hardships of new motherhood? Why are some people “lucky” and others are not? Luck is not always made.
Why does someone appear just when we are stranded and need a miracle? Why do we narrowly survive a serious accident or some other catastrophe and then attribute it to God or luck and not science? Science cannot explain everything, but belief in God offers answers.
The inexplicability of life seeks answers. The belief that there is more than what we can perceive with our five senses is beneficial to us and gives us hope and lets us imagine that there are answers to what we don’t know, that there is a reason we are here.
Faith in God, belief in an afterlife, belief that there are supernatural powers that can alter the facts of science, the belief that there are answers to our questions and prayers is beneficial. If we believe there is more to this life than what we can see, then we will be motivated to keep going and not give up, especially when we need help with something that is out of control like Mother Nature or the winds of fortune.
The mystery and magic in our lives may not be understood, but they also cannot be denied.