Wake Up and Wonder

Wake Up and Wonder

By Rev. Joseph L. Di Gregorio


Plato said philosophy begins in wonder. I would like to paraphrase that and say, Religion begins in wonder. As we grow older our vision is clouded with the film of familiarity. Spiritual cataracts blind us to the beauty and wonder of the world and God.

Rachel Carson, author of The Sea Around Us, found her sense of wonder had eroded as she proceeded to write her book. So she brought young children to the beach with her. She watched them play in the water, gather shells and see what familiarity had hidden from her eyes. She became again as a little child with the sense of amazement that revealed to her the beauty and life of the sea.

Sometimes WE need a striking event to awaken our slumbering sense of wonder. Thomas Carlyle once wrote, “the person who cannot wonder, who does not habitually wonder and worship is but a pair of glasses behind which there are no eyes.” Einstein said very much the same: “He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead. His eyes are closed.” King David urges us to seek the face of God continually. This demands of us a wide-eyed sense of wonder every day. This is what is behind the advice of the spiritual writers who ask us to practice the presence of God.

Why don’t we do this? Why do we lose our childlike sense of wonder? Because we are too preoccupied with facts. We want canned theories and miles of data. We want everything measured. We insist on being in control to the point where we refuse to let anything surprise us. We can’t even have a ‘surprise party’ anymore.

Certainly there is nothing wrong with getting the facts. Nor can we argue the value of a reasonable control of the environment. We are rightly angry at oil spills that kill millions of fish and ruin beaches. We are correct in fighting the sulphur emissions from smokestacks that redden our eyes and rasp our throats. We are on target when we rail against cancer producing elements in our food and atmosphere.

At the same time we must go beyond the facts and let go of our fist at the culture switch. We must learn how to see facts as an echo of God. A tree stands for more than lumber for a house. Snow exceeds its use for skiing. The world is a hint of God. Its back is to us. Its face is to God. In Psalm 19 we hear, “The heavens tell us about the glory of God. Day pours forth speech. Night declares knowledge. Their VOICE goes through all the earth.”

Such wonder helps us to see the holiness in life. By wonder we gain respect for the real world, so that we do not exploit it, but enjoy it as it refers to God. A miracle hits us over the head. “Wake up and wonder.”

Thus we would move from loving communion with the world to a loving communion with God. Our world is a window onto the sacred. God loves this world, which echoes His love. Stir up your sense of wonder and see the beauty that surrounds you. God Bless You.