J.J. Abrams, the creator of Lost and a director with a keen knowledge of film and story, talked about mystery in stories. He said that mystery is what drives characters through a story. It's what brings the audience through a story. He believes that mystery is key in telling an engaging story.
I was reflecting on how that is not only true in why I am drawn into Lost, but perhaps that is what pulls a lot of people through the story of their own lives. I mean, we have the mystery of how will our career turnout? Who will I marry? Are my kids going to be successful? Who is God? Where do I fit?
People have gotten with how Lost is taking it's time in revealing the nature of the island and what is going on and I think people are missing the point. Although the writer's could tell you what everything is, it would suck the life out of the show. If I had told you what was in the hatch that they found at the end of season 1 and what it does, it would severely take away the wonder and awe of discovering it with the characters and then seeing how the characters deal with it. This wonderment is key because this show is not about the answers. It's about the characters. It's about what the characters do in this situation where they don't know the answers but they continue to live and figure the best way through the chaos.
It's the same for us. We could have definite answers about our future and the exact nature of God, but I think there is something to mystery that needs to permeate into our lives. We can't know every detail for the reasons why things work the way they do and ultimately, I think it would be a disservice to us as individuals created in God's image. If we are wrapped in a mystery, the thing we are left with is who are we in the midst of it all. Who am I going to be despite the situation where there are unknowns. Are we going to throw up our hands and hang out at the beach and wait for death to come get us or are we going to live in such a way that explores the mystery. A way of life that tries to do the best they can with the strange scenarios we are plunked into.
Lost is a show about broken people given a chance to change how they approach their lives and enable them to see their essential true selves in the face of a wall of mystery. Their past lives may dictate why they do things they do, but that doesn't mean they can't change. They can change their fate. And through the grace of God, so can we.
I got troubles, ah, but not today
'Cause they're gonna wash away
They're gonna wash away
And I have sins love, but not today
'Cause they're gonna wash away
They're gonna wash away
- Joe Purdy's "Wash Away" from the album Julie Blue
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