By Annalissa Cochran
“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” – Einstein
What is wonder? Webster defines wonder as “a rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one’s experience.” The bigger question is, “Why does wonder matter?”
When I think of wonder, I have a memory of my young son standing in front of a massive Claude Monet water lily painting at the Frist Museum in Nashville – his pale, redheaded frame in stark contrast to the deep blues, greens, purples, and pinks. I watched him, wondering what thoughts were swimming around in that wide open mind. What if our Lord feels a similar joy watching His children marvel at the shadow of beauty, making them realize that it is only a glimpse of our Lord, beauty and perfection incarnate?
Today we live in a “now” culture – leaving no room for wonder to manifest. Until we stop and take in the beauty around us, we can’t experience what wonder is for in its purest form.
Psalm 65:8 reads, “The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.” Genesis lays out the work of God’s creation and He calls it “good.” Job 38-39 spells out God’s mastery over all created things. Romans 1:20 repeats this sentiment: “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”
We all seek truth and beauty. However, when we only see the mountaintop at face value, we are left empty when it is over.
In “The Weight of Glory,” C.S. Lewis writes, “The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things – the beauty, the memory of our own past – are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”
When we know the Who and the why behind it all, wonder isn’t a short-lived experience but one that points us to the Creator Himself. How amazing to know that these moments pale in comparison to God’s beauty. If we look closely, we will find joy in the King of everything – the One who made all of this beauty but didn’t have to. What an incredible gift.
Annalissa Cochran and her husband, Roberdeau, live in Flowood, where they are raising their two sons. Annalissa enjoys reading, writing, history, travel, and pancake Saturdays.