Has a wonder ever visited, perhaps as startling and magnificent as a parrot landing from nowhere on your shoulder, peering with perky eyes into yours? Have you smelled the sweet scent of dew on the dawning of a spring, the first garden buds blooming colorful faces like little elves across edges of fine cut lawns? Do you remember the rise of your heart when the fiery tangerine sun dipped into the silver-lined ocean burning with glorious dependability?
Do you recall when a tear burst forth from a hardened heart?
Have you felt the wonder of toil at rest, kicking back, legs spread wide in a relaxed ‘V’, sipping summertime tea with a lemon squeeze?
Wonder visits in the blink of the eye, a piercing light bursting from a thundering sky, a tiny sprout splitting a rock, a baby entering life.
It visits in long, slow intentional breaths in our morning vows, unleashing status quo pursuits chaining our hearts, carving narrow pathways of peace through rat race days, untangling ropes of worry wrapped around throats.
Wonder needs air, space to breathe, wide open fields carved in deep forests to bloom it’s wildflowers.
I walk slowly downstairs for another cup of green tea. Time stops, freezing its numbers, silencing its incessant ticking and demands, allowing timeless being-ness. My son sleeps in, a late day for school. I sense his deep breathing slipping under the crack of his door, the glory of deep sleep rising through the house like scents of lavender, in the calm of morning hours. I soak in the aroma of this peaceful first blush, quelling storms of uncertainty rolling through our life, job insecurity, the launch of a no guarantee project, my son struggling with growing up, how to navigate the big wide world before him.
How to find wonder in family storms, in a world insane, Isis on the lose, racist fueled elections, drug-filled schools infiltrated with street drugs, smuggled by cartels through tunnels, flimsy borders, flying on drones, stuffed in baby’s diapers?
We find it in the balm of quiet mornings rising like rainbows from stormy horizons, in spontaneous escapes to pine-centered forests, in a smile, in a prayer.
Wonder lives before us, as Elizabeth Barrett Browning says, Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes.
Will we see?
Will we rise with its glory?
Moses saw the fullness of wonder, God in a burning thorn-bush:
An angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn-bush. When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord:…Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look, but the Lord said to him, “Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
Will we take off our shoes, or even notice we’re on holy ground?
The God of wonder found in a thorn bush.
Where are thorn bushes in your life?
Can you see the wonder there?
Thorns crowned the head of Christ on the cross, where wonder died and lived.
What cross do you bear in your life? What thorns crown your head?
Will wonder win?
Each day, we glimpse but a minute fraction of wonder before us. Will we have the eyes to see?
There was a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.”
“The power has gone out from me”, meant also the power was transferred into her.
Jesus, the embodiment of wonder, told the disciples, “I tell you the truth. The person who believes in me will do the big work that I do. And he will do even bigger work”.
He was saying that wonder is within us.
Will you touch the robe of wonder today – a wonder so far, wide, and deep it’s unfathomable. Yet right here, right now, in our midst, within.
Touch it.
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Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John up a high mountain and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his garment was white as the light.
We Love Your Comments!
I rarely sit still enough to wonder at what needs wondering – so thank you for this great post. the tyranny of the urgent rules too often and who has time to take off their shoes?? Thanks, holyvacationqueen! I’ll start now.
Hi Sue, yes we all get caught up in the :tyranny of urgent rules” (love that)..and so glad this
speaks to you to begin noticing the wonder around you!
Hi Holy Vacation Queen. I’m neighbor to you at #raralinkup. I love the encouragement you give to open up our hearts to wonder. We can miss so much when we don’t open our eyes to really soak it in. I long with you to “touch the robe of wonder today – a wonder so far, wide, and deep it’s unfathomable.” Thank you!
So thankful for your comment and visit! Hope you enjoy the blessings of wonder surrounding you today!
There is perfect in the chaos isn’t there? We just have to remember to reach out and touch the wonder that is always there for us!
Yes..the world will have chaos, but with God’s grace, wonder is right before us.. Thanks for visiting Lynn!
Wonder! Yes. So important, so necessary, so life-giving. Thanks for linking, Kathy!
really enjoying #smallwonder community Kelly! Thanks for hosting this wonderful linkup!
Your words today are stunning and inspiring. How often do we stop to look for wonders? It is one of my favorite things to do when I am out walking and God has a way of showing up big when we are open to seeking Him in the beauty. Thank you for these beautiful words.
It’s so easy to be caught up in my busy life, never noticing the beauty that surrounds me. I need to stop and find the wonder in quiet mornings, touching the Lord Jesus in a moment of holy awe. The quiet and peace that rises from an early morning time of reflection in God’s Word brings me to find His presence to cover me throughout the day. Thanks for such beautiful thoughts and to focus on the Lord despite how much is happening in life.
Kathy,
What a great reminder to find the wonder even in our thorn bushes…that is such a test of my faith and also an invitation to lean closer to God, who helps me to see…may you find wonder and His love in all today…blessings 🙂
Hi Kathy! Wonder is a trait that I need to get more of…it’s a real prelude to joy. If I can’t sit in wonder of the small things, then I’ll be a poorer person.
Take my shoes off (which I’m working on a blog post about!), take a few minutes and just revel in the minutes I’ve been given. That’s the key I think.
Thank you for great, peaceful thoughts!
Ceil
Your post makes me want to take a walk along the beach with mountains on one side and drink in the clear clean air. There is a song called: Don’t Let Me Miss the Wonder by Gorden Mote that sings your post. Beautiful.
oh thank you so much Betty! What a beautiful comment, I imagine you talking that beautiful walk you describe!
And I will see if I can find the song..blessings!
Also I was having trouble leaving a comment on your blog..just love how your grandchildren speak the truth, ‘Grandma, you’re old’..they’re not shy are they! Love the stages of life, especially the one not mentioned!
Ah yes… Wonder was my OneWord last year you know… and I fell in love with the pursuit of it! (and yes… the discovery that it is, in fact, within us!) Great post!
What a beautiful word for a year, what a wonderful pursuit Karrilee..I reflect on reading your blogs, what wonder you
always share!!! Thanks for visiting been missing your posts, too. Will come by soon!
AH… I’m soaking in your words, my friend. Trying to allow them in and inspire me to stop and pause and breathe in the wonder you paint so vividly.
It gets harder and harder with all that is going on in this world. We must create our own fortresses of wonder in Him. Thank you for helping me do just that.
Always love your comments and your desires to be closer to God, to carve paths of holiness through your days.
We help one another do just that! I hope this takes you to your kitchen altar with a hearty prayer!
I just realized you commented on Finding Wonder not my new post..but similar themes!