By Larry Shurilla
One of my favorite things to do as a teacher was to bring something into the classroom that would spark the kids’ interest and make them want to learn. Whether it was a model replica of the Wright Brothers’ Flyer, a communicator from Star Trek – The Original Series, or a bubbling beaker of green liquid, these objects had the potential to invoke curiosity in a child. A good object spurs questions, engenders interest, and provides a phenomenon difficult to explain. It makes them want to know why? In a word, it provides, wonder.
Recently, I’ve been pondering the word, Wonder. In a way, I’ve been wondering about wonder. My first thoughts included very basic meanings. Wonder is a fascination, but something more. Wonder is a bewilderment, but it’s brushed with goodness. Wonder is an unanswered question and yet it fills one with awe. Wonder warms the heart and sparks questions: How can this be? What is the true story here? Why am I feeling uplifted? What is it I really see?
We often hear the phrase, “Filled with wonder.” Like light banishing darkness, apparently wonder has the ability to seek and illuminate the empty spaces of the human soul.
When was the last time you were filled with wonder? Perhaps it has been a very long time. Perhaps it happened today. We need only look into the face of a child at Christmas time, to rekindle within ourselves the nature of wonder, but is there something more?
I love to look into the faces of the 3-to-11-year-olds as I teach music to them each Sunday at church. As a matter of fact, I just pulled out a lit tabletop Christmas tree that my friend, Karen, brought for me, that included laminated ornaments with the names of Christmas carols written on the backs! When I had one of the kids plug in the tree and light that baby up, the tree lights were not the only things glowing in the room! That Christmas wonder worked its way to the surface and the kids’ eyes were “all aglow.” I guess they’ll find it hard to sleep tonight!
But wonder is not reserved for children. As a matter of fact, I, myself, have seen much wonder in the world. It may not always be found in twinkling Christmas tree lights, but the examples were to me, shining nonetheless. Let me share just a few recent memories.
Since I’ve retired from teaching, I deliver flowers part time for a reputable Milwaukee florist-since 1901! In my flower journeyings, I have come across the salt of the earth and they have reminded me of the everyday wonders of goodwill toward men.
One day I had a delivery to an elderly black woman living in a dilapidated old house in Milwaukee’s inner city. The house had a huge wooden porch and the buzzer didn’t work, so I knocked hard. Soon a little boy, around 8 or 9, came to the door and I could hear his grandma yell from up the narrow stairway, “Who is it?”
“I’ve got a flower delivery for you!”
“Bring him up, son.”
I followed the boy up the creaky stairs and opened a door into a very congested room. The grandma was sitting on a couch, cane in hand, and graciously accepted the flowers. She thanked me and told the boy to walk me back downstairs to the front door.
In those few minutes in that humble home, I felt the love that grandma had for her grandson and the absolute goodness of that little boy. He was a good boy. An obedient boy. He had respect. He was taking care of his grandmother. As I looked at the sleeping, chained-up St. Bernard in the back of the neighbor’s yard that looked more like a junkyard, I could only wonder, how in this blighted section of a big inner-city, where all we seem to hear about is senseless violence, here in this humble home, was a pocket of love and I’ve seen them all over the city.
Another day I entered an automotive shop on North Avenue. As I was waiting to be served, I noticed 8-10 pencil drawings taped to the shop walls. The drawings were crude, but interesting, animals, ordinary people, nothing special-all drawn on sketchbook paper, ala Napoleon Dynamite. They were all signed by the artist. After I had been served, I asked, Denny, the lead mechanic, what the story was behind all these drawings?
Denny told me there was this one guy that would come around every so often and try to sell a drawing or two. Denny said the guy really looked like he could use some help, so he’d give him about $10 for a drawing to help him out.
There it was again. Wonder. Denny just wanted to help a brother out. He could’ve told that guy to just move on, that he wasn’t interested in any artwork, but something inside Denny told him to love his neighbor. As I left, I noticed the latest drawing up on the walls. Amid the shock absorber and Michelin tire posters, was a hand drawn pencil drawing of Jesus carrying a lost sheep.
Continue with me on this wonder filled journey!
On another occasion, a very disheveled man, who kept talking fast and repeating himself, came into the flower shop and asked for David. When he saw the owner, Dave, he explained how he had this headache that just wouldn’t go away and wondered if Dave had any Ibuprofen. He just wanted a couple tablets, that’s all he needed. Dave knew this man and had helped him out before. This man knew David and knew he could get help here. Dave found some tablets, gave them to the man and he was soon on his way.
It was so pitiful to me, to imagine anyone, walking the streets of Milwaukee and just looking for a place to get some Ibuprofen because he didn’t have access to any and couldn’t afford it. He had no bathroom cabinet just down the hall to get medicine, band aids, toothpaste, etc., but he did have the flower shop, and he knew Dave.
The more I ponder about wonder, the more I am drawn to the Savior and the way He taught us to live. Surely, recalling shepherds gazing into the heavens, seeing and hearing the astonishing proclamation of the angels and then making haste to the City of David to behold the Christ Child fills me with wonder.
The wise men following a brilliant star to a lowly stable in Bethlehem, avoiding the treachery of Herod, finding the Messiah and laying before Him their precious gifts; how miraculous and faithful.
Wise Men, Shepherds, Angels, Stars, these may be the tokens of Christmas wonder we see in a child’s eyes, but as we grow older, we need not lose our wonder and consider faith a childish thing. We need simply look around us with wiser eyes and behold the wonders placed in our paths-the good little boys in the city, the kind mechanics, the caring florists-and realize that once we are led to the Savior, a change stirs within us.
After we too are led to the manger and gaze upon the Christ Child and remember how he cared for the one, how he forgave all, how he blessed the sick, fed the hungry, comforted the lonely, are we not motivated to be more like Him? We each have power to make the world a better place and Jesus so elegantly taught us how.
If you don’t feel very close to God right now or wonder if He really exists, I’ve got an experiment for you this Christmas season. When you’re looking at a nativity or see a reminder of Christ’s birth, Pray to Heavenly Father and ask Him if he’s real? Ask Him to show you He is real in a way you can understand. Tell Him all about your problems and ask for help. Ask Him to help you see His hand in your life. After your prayer, see how you feel. If you get a bit of that wonder you felt as a child, maybe you’re on to something. Maybe you’ve begun a connection with Deity, the kind of Deity that isn’t sitting up on a cloud, endless miles away, but is like a loving friend who can’t wait to hear about your day, one that will never let you down and never give up on you.
I don’t need to travel to North Avenue to see the wonder of humankind. I see it every day as I watch my wife push her aged mother to the bathroom and back, again and again and again. I see it when she combs her mother’s snow-white hair and talks kindly to her. When she asks her if she’s hungry, tired, or in any pain.
I see wonder as I watch my daughter tickle her daughter to death! I see wonder when I watch a parent teach their child how to put money in the Red Kettle of the Salvation Army.
Maybe I need to enhance my understanding of wonder and think of it not only as an unanswered question or a bewildering fascination. Perhaps I should think of wonder as a glimpse at the pure love of Christ, as something that motivates me to be a better person, as an inspiration to be something better than I am.
All these examples are the way Jesus wants us to live, the way He wants us to love. This Christmas, when we see stars in the skies or atop shimmering trees, let us remember to look for the hand of God in our lives and like wise men of old, look where He is leading us to help our brothers and sisters.
Jesus has been called many names: The Prince of Peace, The Messiah, The Great Redeemer, The Lamb of God. It’s no wonder that Isaiah wrote this name first and Handel put it to music, but Jesus is the one who lived it.
And His name shall be called…Wonderful.
