Men go forth to wonder at the heights of mountains, the huge waves of the sea, the broad flow of the rivers, the vast compass of the ocean, the courses of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering. — St. Augustine.
I have been fortunate enough to watch my children and grandchildren grow up, and I marveled as each one of them when they first discovered their feet, and continued to grow and begin to wonder and enjoy Christmas lights, the stars, a solar eclipse, and all the other miracles that occur on a daily basis. As St. Augustine notes perhaps the most amazing marvel of them all is the human body and mind.
Krista Tippett says that Einstein saw a reverence for wonder at the heart of the best of science, religion, and the arts. Krista suggests that “wondering is a useful way to begin to speak a shared vocabulary of mystery we might embrace across our disciplines, our contrasting certainties, and our doubts.”
I am not as eloquent as Krista, Einstein, or St. Augustine, but I do know that when I begin to have doubts or my faith starts to wane I find comfort and renewal in God’s wonders and assurances of his existence in his mysteries. Perhaps that is why in this latest chapter in my life I find so much comfort and satisfaction in writing novels. Flannery O’Conner said, “the task of the novelist is to deepen mystery.”
Mystery causes us to wonder, and when we discover God’s answer, we wonder all over again.
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