A Place Called Wonder

When I stand under a warm summer midnight sky and look into the heavens and see the stars, I wonder. When I wake up from a dream, I wonder. When I view photographic images from the Hubble telescope of a distant galaxy, I wonder. When I see a newborn baby that just minutes before had emerged from a mother's womb, I wonder.

When any of us think we have our life of faith all figured out we begin to lose a sense of wonder. At that point, we can begin to make self-confident proclamations about what we consider to be absolute. A loss of wonder and the desire to explore the depths of truth can become a demand that other people must see life like we see it through the narrow lens of our understanding. 

I have noticed this is particularly true in the realm of theology. A person who demands to prove every point of their theology as absolute will not be filled with wonder or with a desire to explore any further. When a point of theology becomes part of a system of belief it loses its personality and becomes a systematic set of cold and harsh facts created and conditioned by a predetermined mindset. A lack of wonder and inquisitiveness stops our spiritual and intellectual forward motion and parks us in a place of motionless personal conclusion. At that juncture, we begin to look and sound small because we spend our time defending our position and declaring it as something unchangeable.

The God we worship is beyond our ability to fully measure and comprehend. While He is so tender and approachable that a child can come to Him, the depths of who He requires that we are willing to explore things about Him that are not yet seen or understood. Have you ever seen the eyes of a small child viewing something wonderful for the first time? Like the revelation of God's Kingdom that is always expanding, so it should be with our understanding of Him. That expanding revelation will produce a child-like wonder in the most hardened person if they are willing to open their heart and mind to something more.

God will not be held hostage to our theology about Him no matter how well-educated and well-defined it may have become. Many continue to live this life thinking their understanding of God is unchangeable and absolute when Scripture tells us only Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.