Beech Tree News Network

WONDERING ABOUT WONDER

Have you ever had instances where similar thoughts or circumstances keep recurring on a frequent basis? It happens to me on a pretty frequent basis and I take it as a clue that something, or someone, wants me to take pause and pay attention for a bit, it just might be I need to learn something. Just such an occurrence has been popping up lately, enough for me to believe it is something more than just circumstance and that is with the concept of -wonder.

First off, the youngest member of our clan asked for my input and insight, into skills he might possess which would convince others that he would make a good leader. He has a temperament a lot like his mother but he is wired and learns a lot like me, so eventually, he came up with an unconventional approach. The area involved was music and he drew a connection between the capacity to really grasp how music affects people and a sense of wonder, linked to leadership. I have to say I agreed with his assertions and conclusions. This got me to pondering on the whole concept of wonder and then wonder was again brought up at the place where we go to worship. I believe someone is trying to get my attention.

I am a bit of a “word nerd” and I believe how we use language and words and what context they are in, makes a world of difference, in conveying meaning. Let's start with the word -Wonder. Whenever we say something like “I wonder,” in reality we have not entered the domain of wonder at all, here- wonder, is in place of the word-ponder, or contemplate, or mull over; wonder, is actually something totally different. There are other words that fit in this category, for instance the word- fear, may have been proper usage for a feeling of deep reverence at one point but today the word-awe, comes a lot closer to capturing the feeling some of our ancestors knew about. I know that kingdom often refers to an ideal and not a place and no, ideal and idea are not the same thing, it drives me crazy to hear someone say, “ I have no ideal.”

Here is what -wonder, really entails; wonder is about marvel, mystery, being consumed by the unfathomable. Wonder is about not being able to be fully understood, it is enigmatic, synonyms would include, boundless, immeasurable, incomprehensible, infinite, eternal. So you see, real wonder; commands a lot of respect, the simple word-wonder, takes us into deep philosophy. By the way, speaking of the meaning of words, you'll notice that the header of this column is -Phil's Philosophy; Phil happens to be my actual middle name and I paired it with philosophy because of the way it sounded together, Philosophy actually comes from two Greek words; philo- which means love and Sophia; the feminine version of- wisdom, so Philosophy means- love of wisdom, and my middle name, is quite literally -love; not screw- up, as has been suggested, so I've got that going for me.

So, Wonder- embraces mystery. Our son knew what he was talking about when he linked wonder and music then. For music to really touch your soul it has to go way beyond technical perfection. Every note might be precise, and without error of any kind but that is not what we respond to, it is when music transcends the logical and touches the childlike wonder dancing in our veins, that we truly understand and yet, are bewildered, at the same time.

I have noticed a perplexing and baffling trend in a lot of instances though. A lot of folks seem to prefer simplicity to mystery. They like their world, black and white, right or wrong, everything figured out, with little room for wonder, left in their lives. We have been told that we must remain like little children to enter a certain kingdom and remember, that is an ideal, not a certain place. The quality of children worth emulating is not simplicity, or compliant obedience, it is the ability to embrace wonder.

I have stressed to my children, over and over, about never losing the capacity for wonder. The opposite of wonder is what us country folk do when we “reckon;” it is to calculate, suppose, conclude and consider, all useful in their proper place but they also make things finite, instead of infinite, bounded, instead of boundless, limited, instead of eternal, and explainable, instead of unfathomable. For me, things like music, imagination, creativity and even faith;(perhaps especially, faith) are inextricably tied with wonder. As for me and my house, a child will lead us to a place called home, in the realm of- Wonder.