The preacher had no chance…the adorable toddler navigating gravity down the center aisle of the church had fully captured everyone’s attention. And then like a great crescendo the little person crossed a beam of sunlight and their face lit up as they discovered the interplay between light and shadow on the floor.
“Every moment of life is an opportunity for awe and wonder if we simply allow ourselves to notice it.”
One of the greatest blessings of walking with others is when they have a revelatory experience. These ‘ah-ha’ moments are like putting on a pair of new glasses when not only do you see more clearly but there is a vibrancy that did not previously exist.
Theologian Richard Rohr offers this, “Once we decide to behold, we are available for awe and wonder, to be present to what is, without the filter of our preferences or the false ledger of judging things as important or not important. A much broader, much deeper, and much wider field of perception opens up, becoming an alternative way of knowing and enjoying.”
My sense is part of why everyone in the congregation was drawn to the free range child (besides their cuteness) was their unaltered curiosity and awe and wonder in all things: look at my feet move my body, I make a funny noise and people smile, I wave my hand here and there is a shadow moving over there!
While I’m sure the preacher had a new message that day, the lesson the gathered faithful took away was that amazing, even holy things are happening all around us if we allow ourselves to see through the lense of awe and wonder.
“O Thou, light of light,
fountain of life:
grant me the grace
of wonder. Surprise me,
amaze me, awe me
in every crevice of your universe.
Each day
enrapture me with
your marvelous things
without number.
I do not ask
to see the reason
for it all:
I ask only to share
the wonder of it all.” – Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel