What fills your heart with wonder?
I believe it was G.K. Chesterton that said "the older you get, the more it takes to fill your heart with wonder".
Reaching the top and beginning my slide toward 60 It can take quite a bit at times, but today it came simply but in a very profound way.
My wife and I were enjoying the beautiful day this afternoon sitting at our local community pool in our usual location within site of the kids grassy play area and the diving board. I'm often reminded of my youth when witnessing the young boys choosing sides for a small game of Nerf touch football or like today "Run the bases" as we called it when I was young. Games initiated, organized, governed and adjudicated by kids without parental supervision is a joy to behold. I hope all have had the pleasure at one time or another.
Today though was even more special then usual because of what, by the grace of God, I had the pleasure of being witness to. I glanced toward the diving area where the kids were taking turns jumping from the diving board, laughing and just plain having fun trying to out do one another with the size of their splashes. I noticed this one young boy, my guess around 8 years old, hopping on one leg across the apron to take his turn at the board. I thought he was just horsing around until I realized he only had one leg. He proceeded to move as quickly and gracefully as any child might with two, reached the end of the board hopping like mad, springing up then down, launching himself off the board and into the water, swimming quickly to the ladder and repeating this action as fast the line of kids at the board would move. I watched in amazement for quite a few minutes until he further astounded me with a full front flip. He eventually tired and went to rest on his towel and by then never once having appeared to give thought or pause to his missing limb.
Being witness to the beauty of the human spirit and the innocence of childhood, divinely given by God, was all I needed to fill my heart with wonder. And for that simple, yet profound moment I'm eternally grateful.
What does it take to fill you with wonder...
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Aug '10
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
Stephen S.:
What does it take to fill you with wonder...
Not much, thank God.
Jul '10
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
The last time I remember that feeling was when I was kayaking in Hawaii and a pod of cavorting dolphins came alongside. There was one in particular who stayed close by, making eye contact with me each time she emerged. I spoke to her and I'd swear she smiled.
Apr '11
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
Kenneth, great moment thanks for sharing.
I heard one similar from Barry Maguire "Eve of Destruction" fame about his riding in after a work day on a tuna boat. The dolphins took turns jumping up towards the bow while he swatted at them with a rolled up towel, playfully in turn, until they tired and swam off. He was awed because he was sure his Heavenly Father planned it for him before the foundation of the world.
I'm sure she smiled sharing your joy.
May '10
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
Kenneth, my brother had a similar experience in Florida with porpoises. He said it was a little unnerving as they got excited and nearly knocked him into the water. He wasn't scared that they would bite. But even benign, big animals can be intimidating.
Thankfully, like MFR, I'm filled with wonder daily. It's a major reason I'm an artist, I suspect.
I wrote a song specifically about wonder just a week or two ago, after receiving Confirmation. I haven't recorded it yet, but here are the lyrics:
life gets tangled up
but there are moments so clear
i don't need to think at all
gazing at the stars
at the ocean, at your face
it's all the same to me
don't break the silence
we're breathing true
God speaks in wonders
and wonder untangles you
i hope for more than i
could even handle with more strength
than i have ever had
but hope is easy now
humbled by the sights i see
such as dreams could never know
don't sing in silence
i'll be your harmony
God speaks in wonders
and wonder untangles me
Apr '11
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
Looks good Aaron.....you need to record it and link to it when your ready.
May '10
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
continued...
in the stillness grows
life hidden with my soul
it only lasts a moment
but a moment's all we need
God speaks in wonders
and wonder untangles you and me
It was only after writing those words that I understood what I was saying. Wonder is a moment of clarity, during which all of our distractions fall away as we truly witness the beauty of our existence.
Apr '11
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
Also.... the as your beginning to attest the rest of what Chesterton said was how God was big enough to always fill our hearts with wonder regardless our age.
Jun '10
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
Anything my twin 2 year old nephews do fills me with wonder.
May '10
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
In the Army, all feelings of wonder, fascination, bewilderment, etc., are unauthorized unless a DD-267 "Request for Enchantment" form is submitted and signed by a company commander. Until then, "stoic indifference" is the only authorized cognitive state.
Aug '10
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
When I heard about inner city parents fighting for their children's charter schools and school choice, my heart was filled with wonder.
Aug '10
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
Aug '10
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
I just saw squadron of a dozen swallows flying high and fast, straight into a lightning storm, like the swept-wing F-86 Sabre jets of the Korean War. Fearlessly and joyfully soaring on the gale force winds. As the storm was building, the hummingbirds and butterflies were happily feeding and fluttering, carefree. Nature and the Law knows its own and protects it. The rain came immediately after a huge lightning strike, an upside-down V, only a hundred yards away. The thunder was deafening and instant. It's extremely unusual to see electricity follow two paths of least resistance. We've lost the power to watch nature the way our ancestors did, as a miraculous thing, and we're poorer for it.
Jun '10
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
Stephen, I love your story about the boy at the pool. And Aaron, the lyrics are great!
I actually think I'm more easily filled with wonder as I age. I spent yesterday with my husband at Sandy Hook down the Jersey shore & just enjoyed taking it all in. A bike ride through Fort Hancock viewing the old, now vacant officers' homes lined up on the shore always puts me in mind of those "greatest generation" days and I imaging the base bustling with activity. Combined with the newly completed bridge projects and the thriving reataurants along the water, it's a testament to the human spirit. And nothing fills me with wonder like long walks on the beach.
Jun '10
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
Yesterday, as my wife was watering the flowers in a flower pot that hangs from our porch, a bird flew out suddenly. Looking into the pot, my wife saw a nest with 5 small, beautiful, perfect eggs. A small thing, yet it filled both of us with delight and wonder and gratitude for God's creative love. As we sat quietly on that porch in the evening, I said to my wife, "God is good," and she replied, "Always."
Aug '10
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
A partial list...
Frost on the window, efts (that's the asexual stage of the eastern spotted newt) on the forest floor, toads in the garden, thunderstorms, the slant of light around sunrise or sunset, autumn leaves raining fire, the day in fall when the trees are finally bare, the scream of gulls on the water, watching swallows chase each other... snow...
Then there's math, which I wouldn't bother with unless it inspired a strong sense of wonder. Scientific discoveries, poems, music... did I mention music?
When I was younger, people didn't seem that wonderful to me, but as I get older, that's changing. The fact that both my husband and I don't know why each of us deserves to be lucky enough to have found the other is pretty wonderful.
People that can make others laugh are pretty wonderful, too, I've decided.
Oh, and things that smell really good.
Jun '10
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
Two years ago I saw my new grandson, born premature (2 lbs), in the neo-natal unit of a Denver hospital. He's a happy, healthy two-year-old now. I was a matter of wonder that this tiny little body not only could live, but would one day thrive. It was also a wonder that in this often terrible world, people invent machines that kept little Aiden alive.
Finally, it reaffirmed my sense of wonder at the humanity of the unborn fetus and the horror that we have allowed more than 50 million of these little ones to be killed in the name of, of all things, privacy and freedom.
Edited on Jul 2, 2011 at 9:52amApr '11
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
Midget Faded Rattlesnake:
Then there's math, which I wouldn't bother with unless it inspired a strong sense of wonder.
A good proof will have the same effect on you as a good poem: to paraphrase Emily Dickinson, it will "take the top of your head off".
May '11
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
For me my heart is filled with wonder far more easily than when I was younger. Your story reminded me of a recent experience when I was walking for exercise over the bridge in my home town and noticed an attractive young woman in a skimpy tank top talking to someone else just beneath the start of this heavily traveled walking path. I certainly didn't stare at her but in a quick glance I am sure I could tell you her approximate age, hair color, height, weight and bra size. With a glance I thought I could have picked her out of any line-up. A few moments later she passed me from behind and I again noticed her attractive athletic figure. After more than a few seconds I suddenly realized that she only had one arm. There were no scars along her smooth, otherwise normal shoulder so I assume it was a congenital defect and she certainly did not try to hide it. The fact that I had not initially noticed this made me chuckle all the way over the bridge.
Apr '11
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
I'd say a full moon, or any moon for that matter on a clear enough night; but recently, I trekked out to the Baraboo Hills looking for morels in early May. I stopped in town to get a cup of coffee and a roll. I went to the park on the north side of the river to sit and read the paper. I heard a noise from across the water and glanced up to see an African Elephant drinking from the river's edge. It was alone, untended, on a warm Wisconsin day. Surreal feeling but wonderful. Stunned at first, but soon, just happy to be sitting about 50 feet from a creature as wonderful as that paying me some mind from a safe, but beautiful distance. (The Ringling Brothers circus is based there)
Apr '11
Re: What fills your heart with wonder?
Reminds me of that great scene in 'Citizen Kane' where the fellow describes seeing the girl in the white dress on the ferry. 'Not a month goes by where I don't think of that girl.'