Thursday, July 11, 2013

Teach Me God to Wonder

Teach me, God, to wonder,
teach me, God, to see.
Let your world of beauty capture me.
Praise to you be given.
Love for you be lived.
Life be celebrated, joy you give!


I had a holy moment yesterday with five-month-old grandson Nicholas. We went for a gentle stroll in the backyard, and I watched his response as I carried him from place to place. He quietly took in the rustling leaves and reached out to touch the flowers in hanging baskets and along the fence. His infant wonder caused me to contemplate the simple beauty of the natural world. I have no idea what he is taking in at this stage of his young life, but he was obviously fascinated.

In the midst of unpacking inside and trimming outside it was good to slow down and share his experience. We can all savour creation and Creator in these rich days of summer.

Thoughts?

7 comments:

  1. A timely blog! I need to slow down. I have got several major things going on right now, and am feeling a little behind the 8 ball. Thanks for the reminder.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Taking time to appreciate creation is a necessity - and sometimes it takes a child - or an infant - to remind of the wonders all around us. Sometimes, one has to just get up and go, to visit places that we have noted, but never visited... like a beach or a lavender farm (in the County!) - close by, and wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Having just spent a week's vacation with our grandsons (10 months and 3 1/2 years)and their parents I can totally relate to your blog today David. We walked every day and one evening spotted bunnies in the field and the children's eyes lit up. After several minutes of studying them munching away on the grass they were excited to see them move and hop away. The 3 year old had so many questions about where they lived and who was in their family, it was really refreshing. We went on walks that turned into adventures with ladybugs and flowers to smell, and we really did stop and smell the posies. We also were helping them with unpacking and setting up in a new city and the trips to the pool and park were outings much appreciated by the adults as well as the children. So much wonder and beauty to capture every day.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I remember the first time I took Gracie outside once she'd come home from the hospital ... probably wasn't more than a week old.

    She was really fussy, and so I bundled her up in a blanket and took her out to see the new tree on our boulevard. She was amazed, like your grandson was, and was settled and comfortable in no time.

    The kid's gonna be nine next month, and the tree's bigger than ever. Wild how fast it all goes, eh?

    ReplyDelete
  5. E.B. White said: "I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."
    Perhaps we can do a little bit of both!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You need a "like" button on this blog, David! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yes Judy, I have really enjoyed all these responses today. So varied and so thoughtful. I am also rather pleased that I baptized the children identified in two of them!

    ReplyDelete