I read a quote today; sadly, I can’t find out who first said this, but I agree with the sentiment: “When wonder is dead, the soul becomes a dry bone.” Since dry bones have been featuring so much in the blog posts this month, that quote caught my attention. How do we keep the wonder of all God is and all He does in our souls?
Ray Bradbury said, “If you enjoy living, it is not difficult to keep the sense of wonder.” On a similar theme, Albert Einstein once said, “He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” Certainly I think Jesus meant something about the wonder of a child when He told His disciples that they needed to become like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt 18:3). Children view everything with wonder. Life is so exciting to a child, so new, so full of things to explore and discover. If we become jaded and tired of life, we lose that sense of wonder.
Neil Armstrong said “Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.” Again, one way to keep wonder alive is to gaze on the mystery of God. We will never fathom all He is and never reach the end of discovering more of His love, mercy and forgiveness. It’s difficult not to feel wonder when we spend time gazing on Him:
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Ps 8:3-4)
Let’s not lose the wonder and awe of a little child. Let’s keep wonder alive in our souls.