Mystery
I had pulled over into one of those indiscriminate scenic outlooks. There are many along the banks of Lake Superior (Lake Gitche Gumee). The view was beautiful, and I asked the question, “What would someone from Saudi Arabia think of all this fresh water coming, from their land where there is not one single lake in the entire country?” Lake Superior is so large that you can’t see across it. It contains more water than all the other Great Lakes combined, and it has a wonderful skyline.
On this day, it was close to sunset and the sky was beginning to turn the only color of pink I like. As the time was getting closer, people began to line the beach. Families with dogs, a couple of women sat poised for the perfect photo shot, and kids playing in the water stopped to point and stare. The parking lot was filled with cars, one from Canada, a canoe top Jeep filled with guys, a rusty old pickup truck with a couple of teenagers inside, and a fancy RV that surely costs more than most homes. There were a couple of bikers and a cadre of other folks that had stopped to see the sun set. People from every walk of life, from every economic strata, political party and ethnic background, had come together for the same reason!
To my knowledge there is not another single thing that so unites people. We argue about who to vote for, where to live, what movie to watch, what food to eat, what car to drive, what we should do in Iraq, and who is the best and worst president. But there on the shore of this grand old lake, no one was arguing, and they were all brought there for the same reason—MYSTERY!
In this day and age, there are far too many people with far too many answers. There are not nearly enough questions; there is not nearly enough mystery. There should be more questions. There should be more people asking more questions. To ask a question is to be open to change.
We could use a little change in our world. The hope that it could happen as witnessed in the cornucopia of ahhhh dropped jaws standing on the shore of Lake Gitche Gumee admiring a mystery.
Father Bill Myrick
