I have been contemplating the word “WONDER” recently and how it applies to our lives and what God thinks about it. Certainly, children possess the gift of WONDER. Anyone who has been around young children would agree that there is no lack of WONDER in their lives, with the seemingly endless amounts of questions and “whys”. It seems that “lights off time” is the time of day that many of these wonderings and questions arise at the Allio home—due to a procrastination of bedtime or simply because everything else is still and the minds are racing. This evening’s bedtime gifted me with plenty of material for elaboration. As I was tucking my youngest son in, he began asking the following: Why is there a groundhog hole where we dump our grass clippings? Do fairies live in the ground or trees? Imagine if a monster truck went through our garden and didn’t crush our berries! It is in these precious moments that many theological discussions occur and “faith like a child” is evident.
In a book that I am currently reading, the author, Valerie Kaur, speaks about wonder. “Wonder is where love begins. Love is labor that returns us to wonder—it is seeing another person’s humanity… We just have to choose to wonder about them.” We can wonder about many things, big and small. Ms. Kaur asserts that when we are truly curious about another human, we can see them as we are.
During worship this summer, we have spent a lot of time in the gospel of Matthew. The verses seem to revolve around the themes of discipleship and “the least of these” (at least that is what I am hearing in my studying.) Jesus has a different way of looking at the people around him: “Those who are first shall be last (Matt. 20:16) … even a sparrow does not fall apart from him knowing (Matthew 10:30)… If you give a cup of cold water to a little child, you will surely be rewarded (Matt. 10:42).” He sees people (the poor, the outcast, the sinner, the broken, the sick) as they are… precious Children of God. So shouldn’t we?
I can’t help but hope that I never lose my sense of wonder. That I never feel as though I have arrived in my fullness of knowledge. That I remain teachable and moldable in Christ’s image. That I never stop considering others with WONDER. Wonder about their lives, backgrounds, joys, trials… We are all made in the image of GOD, and when we look upon others with humility, wonder, and compassion as Jesus did, his gospel is proclaimed… ”Whatever you did for the least of these…" (Matthew 25:40)
May you never lose your sense of wonder...WONDER about God and his creation.
Carrie