A Sense of Wonder

When I was very young, I remember my father occasionally awakening us in the middle of the night. "Come on kids," he would encourage us in his characteristic hushed but energetic tones, "I have something to show you". He would bundle us up and gently lead us into the cold, brisk night to a telescope he had set up in the front yard. We would then sit, alone in the night, and observe the wide heavens. I'll never forget putting my eye against the rubber lip of the scope and squinting to make out the pale yellow rings of Saturn. These nights were such a treat, such a magical time to own the world while it slept and look beyond the mundane sights of our everyday reality.

 

As I gazed at Saturn, I remember my dad's voice warm at my ear. "Look at that planet Lauren, look at it. Someday, God can teach you how to make that planet".

 

I recall the shivering sensation that stroked my spine as his words washed over me. I was in absolute awe of the mighty truth he had just explained. I was overwhelmed with a sense of wonder about the laws of heaven.



Over the years, I have developed ideas concerning this "sense of wonder". It is the spark that drives every passionate artist, scholar, missionary, and world-class athlete. It is a hunger to taste the richness of excellence, the spice of the unknown mystery, and the varied textures of other perspectives and stories. A sense of wonder about the gospel, about each human soul, about every culture and people inspires action and ignites the unabashed dreamer in all of us. ....If we can capture it...

 

When one can grasp a sense of wonder, he/she becomes magnetically drawn to people, places, and ideas that radiate light and truth. They become seekers who crave knowledge, challenge, understanding, and growth. Those who "wonder" will gladly stumble, will never stop despite the dirt and sweat and -sometimes- blood  that cake their hands and faces because they understand that they are in the act of purchasing their own mental, physical, and spiritual development.



Just as the most expensive luxury possessions require a near unpayable price tag to be considered rare and beautiful, so it is that the backbreaking, mind-numbing, heart-wrenching, and pain-filled growth experiences turn their survivors into gems as exquisite and steeled as priceless diamonds. The seekers know this. They do not shirk from daring greatly because they understand what it means to take a road less traveled. They are ablaze with the idea that, should they humbly submit to every struggle God puts before them, He will make of them a masterpiece with an understanding and potential that will one day make the stars of heaven heed their will.

 

"....what is man that thou art mindful of him?"



To become a work of art, we must be willing and ready to be malleable as clay in the skilled and loving hands of our Father. We must look directly at the intense heat of all the ups, downs, tragedies, and triumphs of life and walk confidently forward. A seeker knows that to be too comfortable is to lose the will to act.

A seeker knows that the student learns as much as he is willing to study, ponder, and devote his time to understanding. Is not life but the schooling of our hearts and souls? Are not death, trial, friendship, and love but questions and difficulties for which we must gain understanding and calculate solutions?

 

The day we understand that conflict is a catalyst for courage, our fear vanishes. The moment we realize that the new, the terrifying, the difficult, are what put the glint of intelligence and resilience in our eyes, we become adventurers. The hour we comprehend that work worth engaging in requires pain, exhaustion, and frequent failure, we become fighters.

 

We become agents of God by becoming agents unto ourselves.

 

...And we never mean to stop, not until the Master of the cosmos gently places a trusting hand upon our shoulder and begins to teach us the gentle art of forming a spiral galaxy.