{"id":7232,"date":"2020-07-02T05:14:24","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T10:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/?p=7232"},"modified":"2020-07-02T07:17:33","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T12:17:33","slug":"wonder-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wonder-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Wonder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I keep coming back to a human experience that I think\nholds the key to understanding who we are as a human\nspecies. It is the experience of \u201cwonder\u201d.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of it, scientific knowledge, as wonderful as it is, is\nin the end \u201cabout things\u201d. Science tells me an apple is a\nred, yellow or green sphere of cellulose, permeated\nwith sugar and water; or ice cream, \u201ca food consisting of\ncream, butter fat, sweetener and frozen\u201d.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does this Webster Dictionary description tell us what\nvanilla ice cream really is? Of course not. Human\nknowledge, to be more than stored computer facts, is\nexperiential. You have to taste vanilla to understand it.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And here\u2019s where the \u201cwonder\u201d part comes in. The most important human experiences elude scientific description; we say things like \u201cyou have to see it for yourself\u201d. Some things, (the Milky Way in the night sky, a new born baby, the death of a lifelong friend, or my own mortality), present a moment that is beyond our ability to fully understand and leaves us in a state of shock and \u201cwonder\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Psalms are full of this mysterious sense. \u201cOh Lord, how awesome is your name through all the earth! \/ You have set your majesty above the heavens!\/ When I see the heavens, the work of your hands\/ the moon and stars that you set in place\/. . . how awesome is your name through all the earth!\u201d Psalm 8<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalm 139<\/a> echoes this same moment of wonder and awe . . . \u201cSuch knowledge is beyond me, too lofty for me to reach . . . How precious are your designs O God; how vast the sum of them. \/ Were I to count them, to finish I would need eternity.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear and reverence accompany such experiences. We\nmeet face to face a truth that is real but beyond our\nability to fully comprehend. It overwhelms us with its\nmysterious presence.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a moment came to me at age 19. I had tickets to an\noutdoor summer concert by the Cleveland Symphony\nOrchestra. Its world renowned concert director, George\nSzell, had just died. There at mid-stage was placed the\nempty Maestro\u2019s chair.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before some 8,000 rapt concert goers, with the sun\nsetting on a soft summer night, the orchestra (without\nconductor) played the soulful strains of Bach\u2019s Air on a G\nString in his honor. Something happened to me and I\nthink to many in the crowd that night.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All I can say is, I was overwhelmed by \u201cbeauty\u201d. And I\nmean beauty on a thousand different levels: The music\ntranscendent, the new grass all around, the man (now\ngone) who created this magnificent orchestra, but still\npresent as his musicians played, the thousands of people,\nsilent and in rapped attention . . . and me, feeling 19, and\nready to change the world.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a moment. We were all plugged into something\nthat I can only describe as JOY. <\/strong>Something bigger and\nsweeter and more powerful than any one of us. We were\ntogether, but each of us still ourselves. And, we all\n\u201clooked and saw how good it was\u201d. Can we say Heaven\nwas there for a moment? I can; at least a hint of heaven.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what\u2019s the point to all this \u201cwonder\u201d stuff? Quite\nsimply these moments are the foothills of God. Children\nwaken to these hills every day. Everything is fresh and\nfull of wonder. They hold that key to who we are . . . the\ncreature that can know and love the Lord.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s happened to us? Somehow we\u2019ve lost the eyes to see and the ears to hear. We fill our senses with far lesser beauty. Our cell phones and computers, as wonderful inventions as they are, \u201creality TV\u201d replaces real life with its wondrous joys and sorrows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there a remedy? Of course there is. Prayer.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every day. \u201cLord I want to see your face, your presence.\u201d\nHe knows your need. Ask Him.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr. Tim\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n