What if some of the most important things in life are not problems to solve?
French philosopher Gabriel Marcel distinguished between a problem and a mystery.
A problem stands in front of us. We analyze it, work on it, and try to reach a solution.
A mystery is different. We are already inside it.
Love. Grief. Hope. Suffering. Faith. Even our own existence.
These are not questions we can simply step outside of and solve from a distance. They are realities in which we participate.
Marcel worried that modern life tempts us to treat everything—and sometimes everyone—as a problem to be managed.
But perhaps wisdom begins when we learn that some realities must be encountered, lived, and received rather than solved.
What in your life might be a mystery to inhabit rather than a problem to fix?
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