THE OMNIPRESENT OTHER

SURROUNDED BY MYSTERY

This is, for me and others I know, a difficult subject. We read and converse about it, but it is by nature a great mystery that is, as are all good mysteries, difficult to grasp, even partially.

Giving intellectual recognition to mystery is not that difficult. We enjoy it. But, actually “getting ahold” of it is another matter. That’s why it is a mystery.

I have spoken before about The Great Mystery. It is that of which we and all things are made, often referred to by the title, not name, “God”. I can’t speak of Mystery without dealing with The Great Mystery, which requires stepping on the slippery sloap of, god forgive, Theology. It’s been said, to speak the word “God” is to unavoidably confront the-ology.

Theology is an interesting word. It combines “the”, “a designation of a particular thing”, with “ology”, defined as “a subject of study, knowledge”. Science is defined as “the systematic study of a body of knowledge”. So, “ology” and “science” both refer to the “study of knowledge”.

Designate the “study of knowledge” as “the” “study of knowledge” (ology), and we get the word “theology”. Remember “ology” has the same definition as “science”, “study of knowledge”. We now see that “theology” is “the science of God”, the systematic study of the Divine.

As a scientist (as well as a lawyer/mediator), I have never cared for the word “theology”, seeing it to be one of the most divisive concepts in the lexicon of man. But when I…