Friday, January 16, 2004

Wonder where the wonder went

Brennan Manning in The Ragamuffin Gospel:



"Before his death, rabbi Abraham Joshua Heshel said to his friend, "Sam, never once in my life did I ask God for success or wisdom or power or fame. I asked for wonder, and he gave it to me."


I asked for wonder and he gave it to me.


A Philistine will stand before a Claud Monet painting and pick his nose; a person filled with wonder will stand there fighting back the tears.


By and large, our world has lost its sense of wonder. We have grown up. We no longer catch our breath at the sight of a rainbow or the scent of a rose, as we once did. We have grown bigger and everything else smaller, less impressive. We get blase and worldly wise and sophisticated. We no longer run our fingers through water, no longer shout at the starts or make faces at the moon. Water is H2O, the starts have been classified, and the moon is not made of green cheese. Thanks to satellite TV and jet planes, we can visit places available in the past only to a Columbus, a Balboa, and other daring explorers."


 





3 comments:

  1. And I thought I was just overly sensitive. I like the thought of wonder. It's kind of like seeing things for the first time.....I was watching someone talk this morning - "wonder"ing how they could talk so long and seeminly without taking a breath.....and as I look out my window I see the wonder of a bright sun misting through the heaviness of a dark winter sky.....more wonder......it's quite grand...............

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  2. Wonder is an interesting thing, because different things provoke it in different people. I'm a bit of a hard-nosed individual, and most of my wonder in the world comes from thrills and spills (I've got a small collection of bruises to show for this morning's ride ;-). But meeting God has never ceased to provide that wonder. Even the love of a partner becomes familiar and comfy after a while, but God is in the 'new every day' business in a way that people never can be.

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  3. Thanks for sharing the quote from rabbi Abraham Joshua Heshel. My attorney used it on his voicemail, so I had to look it up.

    Jody

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