I’m thinking it’s a good subject to recall in the midst of our current blanket of gloom. “Wonder,” if we’ll see it, is still with us. I’m thinking I’ll do a couple of blogs on it, just to get our heads out of the depths and back into the clouds.
Actually, I did blog on it back in February. Not long after that (just before the lock-down) I was a plenary speaker at Simpson University in Redding, California and my assigned topic: Wonder. (I also did a public painting and left it with them.)
Wonder, it’s a topic as large as the universe. How to bring it down to 40 minutes was the first challenge. But just to give an idea of where we might go on these blogs to come, here was the outline of my talk:
1) Wonder and Einstein
2) Wonder and the macro/micro
3) Wonder in Biblical wisdom literature
4) Wonder and the 24 Elders
5) Wonder and who you are
6) Wonder and daily perception
As Simpson is a Liberal Arts University that’s Christian, so were my words, and will be here. At least sometimes. Just know that.
That day I began by asking each person to turn to his neighbor and, without pondering, quickly describe the word, wonder. I have no idea what they all came up with. The list would likely give enough for a book.
So let’s do that here. Think right now how would you describe wonder in a word or a phrase? If you’d like, put it in a comment below.
Who knows, maybe just doing that will help bring us out from this quarantine quagmire, at least a little.
And it’ll be good to hear from you.
At home, in front of one of my abstracts, modeling the tee-shirt produced for the day at Simpson U.
Wonder on my back; I’ll take that.
(I also wonder when I can get a haircut again.)
Our Lives Together
Its About Life
12:49 pm
I always wonder and am amazed how God blessed us with his beautiful earth to enjoy and the peace I have even in this chaotic broken world.
O Lord O Lord how majestic is your name in all the world.
4:28 pm
Yes, all is wonder-full, and our response: full of wonder.
3:24 pm
As I “wonder” about this….I guess to me, the word “wonder” means unconstrained pondering, limitless “what if-ing”, or just giving myself permission to think about something and letting my mind follow any rabbit trail that it feels like following, all without the pressure of having to come to a conclusion, revelation, or a-ha moment….although sometimes that does occur. The best thing about wonder to me is that it can be really fun and freeing in a time when our physical bodies are not so free.
4:24 pm
Great thinking, Scott, and shows another nuance of all the big word can entail. And who of us doesn’t utilize this capacity? It’s a wonderful thing.
4:56 pm
Wonder always makes me consider my finiteness & our Creator’s infinite existence & creativity. “Why should He love me so?”
8:08 am
Indeed amazing. Psalm 8:4.
9:03 pm
“Wonder” in my own vocabulary is a quality that is nearest we can be to being truly child-like. That is, being energetically and perennially fascinated with the way things are in their precise and delicious beauty. Sometimes amidst our copious knowledge, we stop and notice a single flower or bee in the garden or catch a glimpse and color-flash as a hummingbird pauses before zipping off to the next sip of nectar. For me it’s usually the physically small things and the emotionally huge things that bring wonder to my soul. Oh, the depths we will explore when we arrive Home! Keep giving us such glimpses, Hyatt. You do it so very well!
8:12 am
Thanks, Jim. Childlikeness! Perfect! Will likely say more about this one day. Same with the big and the small. Right on.
9:23 pm
To me wonder usually is a two part proposition. I look at the night sky and I wonder whats out there. I see the Hubble telescope pics and I’m blown away with more stuff to wonder about. On the other hand, when I’m on my walk and notice some movement in the corner of my eye and wonder what it is and I see that its a rabbit, my curiosity is satisfied and I move on, never to think about it again. I think the quality of our “wonder” depends on our level of curiosity, persistence, talents, creativity and the amount of energy that we’re willing to put into it. Wonder is who we are as individuals and the essence of our lives.
8:16 am
You get it, Dave. “Wonder is who we are . . . ” what a thought. And the Hubble, and animals. . . their existence at all. Will say more about these in time. (At least I wonder if I will.)
9:27 pm
Wonder: I wonder “about.” It’s the endless curiosity. I wonder “at.” It’s the endless awe.
8:17 am
Wonder “about,” wonder “at.” Insightful and so succinct. Thanks.
9:37 pm
To be so in awe of something you can’t quantify it, explain it, and even struggle to define it. You can’t talk about it, at least intelligently (although we all try so hard to do just that anyway), you can only appreciate it. It is better to be silent, still, and just fully appreciate it.
What is there to wonder about right now while we have this time of waiting, this time where our agenda must be set aside at least temporarily?
Thank you Hyatt! Needed this one.
8:20 am
Yes, when it gets to the point that our perception goes beyond our words to describe it, that’s when “awe” sets in. Wonder if we’ll be able to do the subject justice in these blogs, limited with words as we are. Thanks for your thoughts.
10:14 pm
I wonder if this should be your next book? You have an outline and lots of comments. There you go!
8:21 am
Thanks, Sister. It’s crossed my mind. We’ll see how it goes.
5:23 am
Romans 1:20-21 teaches that God put His divine attributes in the things He created so that we may know about Him. When I wonder about something that transfixes me, I have an inclination to ask God what He wrote about Himself in that thing, and what quality about it He is trying to use to teach me through it in this moment. Nothing has impacted my daily walk more than this practice. The deep truths found through such wonder call up the truths of scriptures already written on my heart! His creation is ever speaking because His Word made it and His Word is alive and ever speaking. The creation to me is an animated version of the Bible, speaking and affirming all the same truths, just in a much more fun and attention grabbing way!
I rarely stop in the wonder process at simply thinking or admiring the beauty of the object of my wonder. I usually stay there in mind until I have gotten at least a tiny taste from its banquet table of The truth and life that it offers. wonder changes me and I want it to keep changing me wirh ever increasing measure. It is what draws me into a deeper intimacy with a living God!
Hyatt, Wonder is what made you my friend. What are you trying to say to me through this man, Lord? And He has said so many things and given me a friend.
Kerry
8:26 am
Kerry, this is so you. I’ve never known anybody that does what you do with nature, how you think about it, the deeper insights you get. No wonder your seminars are so profitable. The world’s still waiting for you to finish your book.
7:08 am
Innocence….intersecting with random, surprising beauty-in anything, but especially nature. Maybe people, too :)
Continue to greatly enjoy, and appreciate your insights/creativity, Hyatt….You are forever young.
8:31 am
Thanks Robbi. That’s a good word to bring into this, “innocence.” It’s like the childlikeness Jim Wallin brought in. And “random,” another good word. Our first meeting was random, but our ongoing friendship, not at all, rather quite intentional. Thanks for reading.
9:03 am
Opening my mind to possibility, to astonishment and joy that so much is beyond our knowledge and understanding, and being thankful and resting in the LORD (who IS now, and who has always been and who will Always BE).
9:10 am
“Opening my mind,” that’s where it starts . . . and from there it never ends. Thanks for your thoughts.
10:19 am
Your wonderful topics of wonder seem simple on the surface. Given a slight bit of thought, they are deep, broad, and beautifully humongous. I can’t imagine time limits on the likes of any of them. “The wonder of who you are”; encyclopedic.
Thank you for your blog, brother Hyatt. Love to you, and yours.
11:32 am
Humongous, encyclopedic, yet simple on the surface. Well put. Seems the best way to handle a very deep subject is to keep it light. At least that’s my way. Thanks.
11:50 am
My late husband, Tim Hansel and I enjoyed Abraham Joshua Hescel’s book, I ASKED FOR WONDER. In the introduction Heschel wrote after he suffered a near fatal heart attack “when I regained consciousness, my first feelings were not of despair or anger. I felt only gratitude to God for my life, for every moment I had lived. I did not ask for success; I asked for wonder. And You gave it to me”.
He has given us TIME during this pandemic. TIME individually wrapped in awe and sacred wonder. ….perhaps in the time – BEING- as well.
12:13 pm
Tremendous. It’s been my prayer request of late, too. I’ll be grateful if I don’t have to go through what Joshua Hescel did to appreciate it more . . . but who knows?
2:18 pm
This pandemic time is wonder for me. Question: How can it happen all over the world? Wonder.
I can rest in God’s peace and – wonder.
God gives me wonder and rest.
9:11 pm
Psalm 37:37.
6:54 pm
Glorious contemplation ☺️
12:22 pm
I remember watching God answer your parents’ (and our) prayers for the Lord’s working in your lives……I can honestly say it has been a wonder of wonders to see His work, and the magnitude of His continued working,…….reminder of the words Bev Shea sang, “Oh the wonder of it all”……and to know His working in OUR lives is just as full of wonder……..did He just use you to demonstrate to us what a WONDER He is working everyday…… In every way?