12/05/2023
This past Saturday, Laura and I returned from Malaysia where we spent Thanksgiving with our oldest son Will, his wife Michaela, and our grandson Karuna. The last time we saw Karuna in person, he was but a mere babe to hold in one’s arms. And now he is an emerging toddler to run after on one’s legs. The wonder we beheld in his sparkling eyes and contagious laugh was enchanting. The wonder of our expansion from parents to grandparents still boggles our minds.
Several years ago, I read a quote from G.K. Chesterton that went, “The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.” How true it is. Our world is filled with wonders, but our eyes often gloss over them due to the prodigious volume of images bombarding our eyes daily. Over-stimulated senses lead to under-appreciated wonders.
I have been told by older adults who have undergone cataract surgery that post operation they could see vivid colors, crisp scenes, and sharp images that had become mere memories in more recent years. Their vision was dulled, and they lost the wonder of the wonders around them.
For many of us, we have cataracts of the soul, and we need surgery. We need post operative eyes of the soul that behold the wonder of the wonders yet again. We need to see the world with fresh eyes and grateful hearts.
If you have the privilege of watching a baby wake from a deep sleep, yawn and stretch, and grin with the simple recognition of your face, you wonder with wonderment.
If your eyes behold a star-filled night in the brisk air of a winter’s evening, you wonder with wonderment.
If you walk hand-in-hand with the one you love through a wooded vale covered with a blanket of pure white snow, you wonder with wonderment.
If your soul awakens to the dawn of faith in the God of love who was born in Bethlehem, you wonder with wonderment.
Let’s not miss the simple, yet profound, wonders of beauty, faith, love, family, and friends. As we wander through life, let’s continue to wonder at the grace that sustains us through trials and tribulations.
In 1933, American folklorist and singer, John Jacob Niles, wrote the words of the now famous Christmas carol, “I Wonder as I Wander,” based on a line sung by a little girl in Appalachia. In his autobiography, Niles described his encounter: “Her clothes were unbelievably dirty and ragged, and she, too, was unwashed. Her ash-blond hair hung down in long skeins.... But, best of all, she was beautiful, and in her untutored way, she could sing. She smiled as she sang, smiled rather sadly, and sang only a single line of a song, `I wonder as I wander out under the sky.’” From that simple line, Niles wrote:
- I wonder as I wander out under the sky,
- How Jesus the Savior did come for to die.
- For poor on'ry people like you and like I.
- I wonder as I wander out under the sky.
- When Mary birthed Jesus 'twas in a cow's stall,
- With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all.
- But high from God's heaven a star's light did fall,
- And the promise of ages it then did recall.
- If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing,
- A star in the sky, or a bird on the wing,
- Or all of God's angels in heav'n for to sing,
- He surely could have it, 'cause he was the King.
I pray you will wonder as you wander and not miss all the wonderment around you this Christmas season.
