You can be amazed…if you want.

In righteousness you answer us,

    by your awesome deeds,

    God of our salvation—

    you, who are the security

        of all the far edges of the earth,

        even the distant seas.

    You establish the mountains by your strength;

    you are dressed in raw power.

    You calm the roaring seas;

        calm the roaring waves,

        calm the noise of the nations.

Those who dwell on the far edges

        stand in awe of your acts.

    You make the gateways

        of morning and evening sing for joy.

You visit the earth and make it abundant,

    enriching it greatly

        by God’s stream, full of water.

You provide people with grain

    because that is what you’ve decided.

Drenching the earth’s furrows,

        leveling its ridges,

    you soften it with rain showers;

        you bless its growth.

You crown the year with your goodness;

    your paths overflow with rich food.

Even the desert pastures drip with it,

    and the hills are dressed in pure joy.

The meadowlands are covered with flocks,

    the valleys decked out in grain—

        they shout for joy;

        they break out in song!

~ Psalm 65:5-13, CEB

The Psalms are good at wonder. They're always calling attention to the vastness of creation and everything God did not only to form it but to sustain life day in and day out. That's a theme in the Wisdom Literature- that God actively works to sustain His creation every day. He did not just create it and let it run its course. He makes sure it continues to go. It's almost like how we take care of our cars. They were made, that's all well and good. But they need regular maintenance in order to keep functioning the way they need to so that we can get where we want to go. The Old Testament thinks creation works the same way. God is the mechanic making sure that things keep running the way they're supposed to. And that is a source of great wonder. How does He do it all? Can you imagine how all this came to be? And so on and so on.

It strikes me that this is an incredibly foreign concept for us in this day and age. Everything in our world today has an explanation. We know what creates lightning and thunder. We know about mitochondria and photosynthesis. We know a lot about certain aspects of the brain and how it works and when certain parts light up and when other parts shut down. In fact, we know so much we think we know everything.

It makes wonder impossible. We are not amazed by anything anymore. There's always someone in the corner to say, "Well, you know why that happens?" And then they tell us whether we want them to or not.

And it occurs to me that we're totally out of touch with wonder. This isn't because we actually have everything figured out. It's just because we think we do. For instance, we don't know why depression exists for all the information we have on the brain. It's associated with a lack of serotonin, but this isn't the explanation because we often increase people's serotonin outputs and...they're still depressed. It's a contributor...but it's not the cause. This is a huge theme of our current neuroscience research. We have made many, many, many incredible observations. For all that work, we have identified very, very, few causes.

Given that, we should be able to "do wonder" better. For all we know, there's so much we don't know. This is true of the human body and brain just as it's true of plant and animal life, the environment, the universe, and so on. But- all we talk about is what we know and what we've learned and how it's inevitable that we will, one day, with enough time, figure it all out. And because of that- we don't wonder. Now, here's the thing. I think pursuing understanding is good. I just think we should be a little more humble about it. And, while that is good, I think appreciation for all of the world's mysteries is even better. The trick is, we have to look for them in order to appreciate them.

I asked our crowd on Sunday morning what inspires "wonder" in them. People talked about experiences in nature, learning about the vastness of creation through reading, and seeing the beauty of humanity through their loved ones and other close relationships. The last part really stood out to me, particularly as the father of a young child. I see wonder every day through her eyes. She lights up when she sees a train. When I see a train I'm annoyed because it means I'm going to be delayed. When she sees a bug- she picks it up and wants to examine it. What is this thing? Why is it here? How does it work? Dad- can you believe I just found an inch worm?

I also just wonder at her and everything she thinks to do. I see her run over to check on her friends on the playground when they fall down and get hurt. I see her bring my mom pillows and blankets so she can prop her leg as she recovers from surgery. Can you believe a 4 year old can do that? How does she know to do it? Isn't it amazing?

There's plenty to wonder at- if we can stop long enough to do it. We don't even need to look past the people in our own lives who will always and continually amaze us- if we'll let them. But that's the thing- we have to be looking for it.

So, I ask you:

What do you want to notice this week? What do you want to be prepared to be amazed by?