Hello Everyone,
Wonder. In the slipstream of everyday life, our regular routines seem to supress our appreciation of the extraordinary privileges of “being”, reducing them to familiar and ordinary. We live with a silent expectation that we are entitled to these “ordinary” offerings of life and assume they will always remain, uninterrupted . . . and familiarity sets in. But, the true fallout of familiarity is the loss of wonder.
So, what happens when a global pandemic barges in on us with turbulent force, threatening to change the trajectory of our everyday existence? Suddenly what has become familiar and ordinary is put back into its rightful context, reinvigorating our grasp of what is in fact, extraordinary. We have a heightened sense of thankfulness. We are grateful just to take a walk and notice the intricate details of creation, or to sit in a café where the alluring aroma of barista-made coffee never smelt so good; to meet up with friends who we realise are irreplaceable gifts, to have our jobs and the blessings of provision, and to spend time with our precious families. Our responses shift from the routine, familiar and ordinary to embracing our extraordinary privileges, and protectively so.
But, I wonder! Is there a deeper well out of which thankfulness springs? In response to our lives being curbed, without a doubt we have become more thankful. Yet, I think thankfulness actually does come from a deeper well; the well of wonder. Thankfulness can come and go in response to circumstances but wonder enables us to remain anchored in the truth and reality of existence. When trouble strikes at us, we can stand firm on the platform of truth and retain our sense of wonder, which enables thankfulness. Wonder is both truth and thankfulness together [1]When we embrace the reality of God in His sovereign reign as creator and sustainer of all things, our response is wonder. We see life through the lens of God’s truth and appreciate the wonder of His creation as we look upon it with fresh eyes of thankfulness. When we take that walk in God’s creation, we don’t see it as familiar; we see it clothed in all its beauty. Or when we look out at the night sky, it is no longer just familiar. We are mesmerised by the glimmer of the moon and the sparkling diamanted stars that are all embroidered in the cosmic canopy of the heavens as they affirm Psalm 19, “the heavens declare the glory of God”. Wonder also heightens our awareness and appreciation of the imago dai and uniqueness of our humanity and capacity for relationships that complement our lives. In this time of restriction, we’ve stopped to smell the roses and we like it. That’s wonder right there! The wonder of the revelation of God’s truth causes us to respond in thankfulness. As we recollect our lives, let’s never again live in the shadow of the familiar, but always in the light of wonder.
So, friends, get your wonder on today.
Best days to come
Wen
[1] Ravi Zacharias, Recapture the Wonder, (Nashville TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 87, 89