Have you been wondering (pensive, perhaps) when in the world I was going to finish this mini-series of posts (if you have a proclivity for completeness like I do – you have)? Well, there was your wonder. Now that’s a wrap….

Just kidding. A while ago I read a chapter on the concept of wonder, and I’ve actually been searching for the book. I thought it was Ragamuffin Gospel, which is a crazy-good book nonetheless, but now I have no idea where I read it. The selection I read introduced me to the idea of praying for a sense of wonder. I have come to believe that one of the greatest tragedies we experience is being distracted from living a sense of wonder – being totally bowled over by how good He is, how creative He is, how merciful He is, how witty and clever He is. Many of us have lived life long enough with Him to know that He is amazing, but our awe is trampled by the weight of our concerns, our pain, our obligations, our overscheduling, etc…

He is worthy of our wonder.

Heavenly Father, please astound us with Your greatness. Give us eyes that are ever amazed by You: the fragility and complexity of a newborn, the absolute perfection of Your Word, a glassy, placid lake, color and clouds and mountains and hummingbirds and jellyfish and humor and marriage and chocolate and miracles and Your presence and Your whisper and tears. You are masterful in Creation, and You are tender in relationship. Please allow us to marvel at Your goodness every day and bless us with a sharp wonder. Oh, that we not be dulled to Your extravagance.

So it’s my assertion that wonder is eternal, and when we experience it in fleeting snippets here – that wide-eyed astonishment at our God – we feebly glimpse how we will know Him in eternity.

Hurry robs us of a close relationship with Him.

Wait creates opportunity for relationship with Him.

And wonder grows out of that relationship as we train our eyes to see the magnificence of Him in our mundane.