For far too many years, I would have put my hand up, arm straight, “I know! I know!” Whatever the subject. I always knew. I was always right; you were always wrong and I got a kick out of making sure you knew that I was right and you were wrong.
How come? Well, when it came to matters of faith and religion, I was brought up in an environment where everything was always about being right or wrong. The dissection and roasting of the sermon of the day, to be consumed over lunch was a weekly occurrence. No wonder I was the know-it-all!
You can check with my family; I know they will be honest, but I think it is so much more common to hear me say, “I haven’t got a clue.” Why? Because on most things and most of the time, I don’t have the vaguest idea what I’m talking about. Especially when it comes to the actions of other people and the motives behind those actions. How could I possibly know?
I’m getting older – not old! – and, on a good day, I find the whole judging and criticising of others quite distasteful. On a bad day? Well, likely you will have been on the receiving end of the bile that spills out of my mouth far too easily.
I like what James Baldwin said, because I like the word “Mystery,” because it shatters the illusion of certainty, and increases the possibility of The Great Adventure. Mystery evades those who know it all, while certainty pretends that you do know it all, when you don’t. So, when today is a good day, I like not knowing; I enjoy “growing with the mystery as the mystery grows in me,” whatever the subject. I want to explore and discover and then figure out ways to tell stories that begin the unveiling of said mystery.
And I am sure that when I knew everything about everything, I was lost, terribly lost, and a very unpleasant person to be around.
# Keep safe. Be kind. Enjoy
The Papa Journey 