Today's quotation:

If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantment of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.

Rachel Carson

Today's Meditation:

What a great gift this would be to anyone--a never-ending sense of wonder!  I've been pretty fortunate in life, for my sense of wonder never has left me, and in many ways it's much stronger now than it ever has been.  I find wonder in almost everything I see, and it certainly makes this world a very special place when I can see the fantastic in the things that so many others find to be somewhat boring or drab.  I consider this to be one of my greatest gifts in life, and I consider myself very fortunate that I have this gift.

I can't remember ever being bored in recent years.  There's just too much to do, too much to see, too much to enjoy.  Even the down times, when I "don't have anything to do," are very positive as times of rest and recuperation for me.

If I could wrap up a sense of wonder in a package, I'd do so and go out into the world and give it away to everyone that I met.  I know that many people would appreciate having this sense returned to them after so many years, and I know that their lives would be richer for having this sense as a vital part of who they are.

Sometimes being childish is desirable, and if we could see the world with the same wonder that a child sees the world with, our lives couldn't help but be much more enjoyable and hopeful, and we couldn't help but be stronger people--stronger for our perspectives that keep us seeing the beauty and wonder of life.

Do you see the world with a sense of wonder,
or with the "practical" eyes of an adult?

Why might it be that our sense of wonder fades as we grow up?

What kinds of things might we do to get our sense of wonder back?

There once was a child, and he strolled about a good deal, and thought of a number of things.  He had a sister, who was a child too, and his constant companion.  These two used to wonder all day long.  They wondered at the beauty of the flowers; they wondered at the height and blueness of the sky; they wondered at the depth of the bright water; they wondered at the goodness and the power of God who made the lovely world.

Charles Dickens

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