Awe, Wonder, and Transition
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
- 2 Corinthians 4:18
“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.” -Rachel Carson
Grownup skepticism and cynicism gradually chokes the life out of wide-eyed childlike wonder; eventually hardening the heart and blinding the eyes to the miraculous invisible realm. Moses would have never seen the burning bush if he had not been open to awe and wonder. We are all surrounded with burning bushes, but so often we are blind to seeing them. Wonder lives outside words or description, it is unsayable and intelligible. A world without awe and wonder eventually sinks into a kind of despair that cannot resist fear.
Living in a way that keeps us open to awe and wonder makes us smaller, and everything else bigger. Wonder sees the treasure in the trash, and so, it becomes an advocate for the neglected, abused, and ignored.
Experiencing wonder enlightens the search for meaning and truth. It is an antiseptic to exclusivity. Wonder whispers in the quiet, thrives on humility, and depends on innocence. Pride and arrogance cannot survive long in a heart full of wonder. In moments of wonder we brush up against the divine even in the most mundane, everyday experiences.
The ordinary, everyday parts of life can lead us into a kind of blind habitualization. In this state of being we easily lose a sense of awe and wonder and are blinded to the eternal and invisible miracles that surround us.
When the light dims, when hope is gone, when fear creeps in. Run towards the light of awe and wonder you can find in all of God’s creation. There are miracles all around us, if only we have the eyes to see them.
_________________________________________
Rod Crossman was born in South Dakota and raised in upstate New York. He’s been a farmhand, lifeguard, grocery carryout, factory worker, high school teacher and college professor. He recently retired after 40 years of teaching painting, printmaking and design for the Indiana Wesleyan University Art Department. He loves to spend his free time flyfishing. Another lifetime vocation has been nature and landscape painting. He and his wife, Dr. Judy Crossman, live in Marion, Indiana, and Englewood, Florida throughout the year.