When you ask people what kind of books they like to read, one of the most frequent answers is…mysteries!  I think my first mysteries were of the Nancy Drew variety.  Recently, after hearing an interview with Jacqueline Winspear,  I have fallen in love with her series of mysteries featuring a British WWI nurse-turned-detective, Maisie Dobbs.

Why are so many of us drawn to mysteries? Why do we love sitting down with a book and getting lost, sometimes for hundreds of pages?  I think as humans, we are drawn to ideas, places, and people we don’t fully understand. We like the challenge of discovery. Even evolution tells us that we humans are constantly seeking novelty.

Mary Oliver’s poem “Mysteries,Yes” celebrates the mysteries of life in a compelling way. Enjoy!  And may you always be curious!

Mysteries, Yes
~Mary Oliver

Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.

How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
in allegiance with gravity
while we ourselves dream of rising.
How two hands touch and the bonds
will never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.

Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.

Finally, here’s a link to Mary Oliver’s interview with Krista Tippett, the host of  the fine radio show “On Being.”