Watching for Wonder

Genesis 1: 1-2 & 31 – 2: 3

Roger Lynn

August 14, 2016

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

We spend a lot of time and energy trying to find God. And we spend even more time and energy trying to describe what we find. Biblical scholars devote their lives to dissecting the smallest of scriptural details. Theologians write countless elegantly composed books and articles on every imaginable subject. Church leaders fret over intricately worded doctrinal statements. Preachers (like me) spend untold hours preparing weekly sermons on a wide variety of topics. And such efforts certainly have their place. Part of what it means to be human is that we try to make sense of our experiences. We are “meaning-making” creatures.

But I also know that one of the most powerful ways in which I experience God’s presence in my life is by paying attention to what is going on around me all the time. Watching for wonder helps to keep me in touch with a profoundly intimate connection with the Sacred. I discover a sense of who I am and where I fit in the grand picture of God. Experiencing life through the lens of wonder provides some protection against the dangers of becoming overwhelmed by the painful realities which can seem so all-consuming. It offers us another way to approach our living – a path which is filled with meaning and purpose and joy. Jewish philosopher and mystic Abraham Joshua Heschel suffered a near fatal heart attack. As he reflected back over his life he became aware of deep gratitude. His response was a simple prayer. “I did not ask for success; I asked for wonder. And You gave it to me.” (from the Introduction to “I Asked for Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology” by Abraham Joshua Heschel” and edited by Samuel H. Dresner)

There are still challenges and struggles, painful realities to somehow deal with. But when we begin to learn the skill of watching for wonder, we really do gain a new perspective, even with regards to the hard stuff. Poet and preacher Robert Raines put it this way:

Let me be like a child surprised to find another

Easter egg hidden in a dark place . . .

Trigger in me little explosions of

wonder & delight . . .

push the buttons, pull out the stops,

up with the windows, down with the walls,

over with the fences of exclusion,

and the tables of oppression . . .

out with the demons of hate

in with the angels of love . . .

Kindle in me fires of a strange surmise,

and stir up wild dreams

fantastic & stupendous,

dreams of nations hugging each other across

rivers & deserts & oceans . . .

dreams of a rainbow people holding hands

around a city . . .

dreams of friends & enemies leaning

over to kiss away the tears . . .

Let me be like a child surprised . . .

We know it by a variety of names – wonder, beauty, awe, inspiration, presence. It is that moment when the world stands still. It is the experience that takes your breath away. It is the event that leaves you speechless. Ravi Shankar described it this way, “Whether you are aware of them or not, whether you recognize them as spiritual or not, you probably have had the experiences of silence, or transcendence, or the Divine—a few seconds, a few minutes that seem out of time; a moment when the ordinary looks beautiful, glowing; a deep sense of being at peace, feeling happy for no reason. When these experiences come…believe in them. They reflect your true nature.” In all of the varied forms in which such experiences come, it really is amazing what happens when we start paying attention. We notice things we never saw before. Life becomes fuller and richer and more vibrant. But more than that, as our capacity for wonder expands, so does our spirit. We clear a space and there is more room for God to come in and take up residence. In his famous prayer poem that we read together last Sunday, e.e.cummings expressed it this way:

i thank You God for most this amazing

day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything

which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,

and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth

day of life and love and wings: and of the gay

great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing

breathing any--lifted from the no

of all nothing--human merely being

doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and

now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

So where do we begin? Where is wonder to be found in this world? Well, the good news is that it is found everywhere. The challenge is not finding it. The challenge is learning to see it. The Sufi poet Hafiz had this to say on the subject:

Where is the door to God?

In the sound of a barking dog,

In the ring of a hammer,

In a drop of rain,

In the face of

Everyone

I see.

I am convinced that Jesus knew about watching for wonder in the common, ordinary moments of life. Just listen to his parables. Notice the images he uses to draw people’s attention to God – mustard seeds, the birds of the air, the flowers of the field, the way grain grows, sheep, bread and wine, even the breath that filled his lungs. Watching for wonder was an important spiritual practice which kept Jesus connected to God, and it can be an important spiritual practice for those of us who seek to be followers of Jesus.

And the good news is that we need not look far to discover wonder. Indeed, part of the trick is learning to not try so hard. Just open up your eyes, and your ears, and your heart, and let it flow in. The viewfinder of my camera has become for me a window into the sacred world of wonder. As I learn to see the world with new eyes, my heart is ever more fully opened to the presence of God’s Spirit. Another Hafiz poem put it this way:

Slipping

On my shoes,

Boiling water,

Toasting bread,

Buttering the sky:

That should be enough contact

With God in one day

To make anyone

Crazy.

I do need to offer a word of warning. If you take this business of watching for wonder seriously, you will be changed. You will experience life differently. You will experience God differently. And people will notice. They may not always understand, but they will notice. It is simply not possible to be open to the essence of Life and remain untouched. One afternoon, several years ago, while I was working as a counselor at high school church camp, I became so attuned to God’s presence that the very air around me was alive. It was an intoxicating experience. I was dancing across the lawn, singing and laughing and shouting. I suspect that the youth in my small group wondered if I had lost my mind. So beware – watching for wonder is not necessarily a safe undertaking, and is certainly not for the faint of heart. You just never know where it will lead you. Well, that’s not exactly true. We know precisely where it will lead us – straight into the heart of God.

This is how Hafiz describes the wild adventure of being fully open to the experience of God in the world: 

And

For no reason

I start skipping like a child.

And

For no reason

I turn into a leaf

That is carried so high

I kiss the Sun's mouth

And dissolve.

And

For no reason

A thousand birds

Choose my head for a conference table,

Start passing their

Cups of wine

And their wild songbooks all around.

And

For every reason in existence

I begin to eternally,

To eternally laugh and love!

When I turn into a leaf

And start dancing,

I run to kiss our beautiful Friend

And I dissolve in the Truth

That I Am.

The message which Jesus sought to share with the world remains as true for us today as it was 2,000 years ago – God truly is all around us in every moment of our living, leaving not so subtle clues for us to find, just waiting for us to notice. May we learn to notice.