Understanding is good as far as it goes
There’s a lot to be said for coming to understanding when faced with something that is confounding. The breakthrough from confusion to understanding is a relief and feels like freedom. God gave us the gift of brains which can look for and find understanding. I remember with great clarity being in fifth grade and coming to an understanding of fractions. I felt like I had rocketed up to a higher orbit in the use of my mind. On my way out of the classroom I said to my teacher, Mrs. Bradley, “I get it! I understand!” I can still feel the joy of the moment as I experienced learning and understanding as fun and meaningful.
IF YOU ARE FRIGHTENED BY AMBIGUITY AND INEXACTNESS PLEASE DON’T READ ANY FURTHER. What follows will make you a terrible partner and friend for people who are certain they are right. Please don’t read any further if you don’t want that disruption in your life.
For some followers of Jesus there will come a point on the spiritual journey where we’re looking for something other than understanding. At a certain point along the path you will find yourself undesirous of understanding. Because if you understand the thing before you it will simply be one more thing you understand and it won’t be what you’re really looking for which is an unmediated experience of the depth of mystery that undergirds and informs all life. Put more simply: what you’re really looking for is God not understanding.
The pathway that leads past the field of understanding is uncomfortable. Being comfortable in discomfort is the doorway into the mystery of the Divine present in all things good, bad, and indifferent. A parable is a great vehicle for transport into that mystery.
The parables of Jesus are not meant to be understood. They are little wisdom stories told by a wisdom teacher meant to agitate your sense of understanding, thus making you uncomfortable in hopes that you’ll ask the right questions. The questions a parable unearths don’t yield easy answers, in fact they seldom yield answers at all. They simply open up a field of discomfort where we can practice being comfortable without answers and understanding as we live and move and have our being in the mystery with God. Doesn’t that sound fun! It’s not fun, until it is. Discomfort is vital to spiritual growth.