“Wisdom begins in wonder.” -Socrates
A few years ago a friend gave me a book entitled “Recapture the Wonder”. In it the author invites readers to “break free from the weariness and cynicism of life to enjoy God’s amazing promise of childlike joy.” I was reading, too, an editor’s note in a popular magazine about the same topic in which she invited readers to make a list of things that had filled them with wonder. For me (in no particular order):
– the smiling face of a friend’s baby granddaughter on social media
– the smiling faces of my own granddaughters in the company of young men who have clearly captured their hearts
– the stunning photos of an eclipse and all the people who were delighted by it
– a little green lizard who lives on our front porch and darts from sunning on the warm tile when I approach
– the sound of an owl in the evening that causes our beagle to perk up and listen as attentively as I do
– the mystery of faith as I took communion Sunday- Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.
– the hope (confident expectation) for recovery I pray over the people in the path of hurricanes, knowing that God has already equipped many to assist in recovery efforts and that, years hence, they and we will still talk about the way that people came together to serve one another.
– laughter around the dining table at a friend’s home as new friends discover that tables and hearts enlarge to include more chairs and more cares
– the taste of my first peach of the season that reminds me of my childhood in Georgia
– rubbing my baby sister’s feet as she reclined with me on the sofa during a visit that reminds me how much I love her
– the way God scatters small evidences of his love all around us
– appearing before a state pardon board for a friend’s clemency hearing, the wonder that a life can be so fully renewed
– that such reflections can bring unexpected tears of joy.
Memory from July 15, 2018