{"id":33,"date":"2015-12-09T17:31:57","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T21:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/theinnerroom\/?p=33"},"modified":"2015-12-10T21:22:29","modified_gmt":"2015-12-11T01:22:29","slug":"an-invitation-into-wonder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theinnerroom\/2015\/12\/an-invitation-into-wonder\/","title":{"rendered":"An Invitation Into Wonder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\u201cWonder is involuntary praise.\u201d English Poet, Edward Young, (1683-1765)<\/h5>\n
\"Photo<\/a>
Photo by Cassidy Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reflection:\u00a0<\/strong>Whether we reflect on it or not, we were all once children and creatures of great wonder. Yet, growing older has diminished our desire (and often our ability) to get in touch with that aspect of ourselves. Behind our disguise of \u201cmaturity\u201d we\u2019ve lost touch with wonder; the heartbeat of all faith. Wonder has become a commodity of our past, something to grow out of as opposed to grow into.<\/p>\n

And, the truth is that wonder is still there, in all of us, under our fa\u00e7ades of adulthood. Uncovering wonder is often a matter of going into those vast spaces of mystery, imagination and trust.<\/p>\n

To wonder, we must let go of knowing. For to wonder is to be in awe, to unfold our defenses in order to be open, to allow the vast landscape before us to emerge, to remove ourselves and what we think we know \u2013 so that we might encounter\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThe modern mind has lost all capacity to wonder. It has lost all capacity to look into the mysterious, into the miraculous \u2013 because of knowledge, because it thinks it knows.\u201d Indian Mystic, Osho, (1931-1990)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We think we know far more than we really do. Just the other day, my two year old nephew stopped me as we were walking to point out a flower \u2013 not just any flower, but one I hadn\u2019t noticed before, one I\u2019d failed to see, one I didn\u2019t know existed, one I was previously too busy for.<\/p>\n

How many\u00a0flowers\u00a0<\/em>have I missed because of modern day life\u2019s suggestions of what I\u00a0should<\/em>\u00a0do or see? How many flowers, people, moments have I missed because an email was more important, a phone call stole my attention, or I was in a hurry to return to my work? As much as we all want to move past childhood \u2013 there remains a child in each of us that yearns to be uncovered so that we might get closer to the mystery, so that we might\u00a0truly see<\/em>.<\/p>\n

How can I take time today to step into a space of childlike wonder and awe. Where are the busy moments that I can move away\u00a0from in order to\u00a0truly notice\u00a0what I\u2019ve left unseen?<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe the burning bush was burning all the time and Moses didn\u2019t notice. Maybe the miracle is when you stop and pay attention.\u201d Francine Prose<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Photo by Cassidy Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWonder is involuntary praise.\u201d English Poet, Edward Young, (1683-1765) Reflection:\u00a0Whether we reflect on it or not, we were all once children and creatures of great wonder. Yet, growing older has diminished our desire (and often our ability) to get in touch with that aspect of ourselves. Behind our disguise of \u201cmaturity\u201d we\u2019ve lost touch with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2527,"featured_media":56,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8,9,3],"tags":[13,15,28,31,14,16,18,22,19,27,29,25,26,24,23,12,30,11,20,17,21,520],"class_list":["post-33","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advent","category-prayer","category-reflection","category-wonder","tag-advent-2","tag-art","tag-burning-bush","tag-busy","tag-childlike","tag-contemplation","tag-curiosity","tag-edward-young","tag-flowers","tag-francine-prose","tag-moses","tag-mystic","tag-osho","tag-poet","tag-poetry","tag-prayer-2","tag-revelation","tag-silence-2","tag-slowing-down","tag-solitude-2","tag-stopping","tag-wonder"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Invitation Into Wonder<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cWonder is involuntary 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