WONDER

Enhances:
Sensousness

Balances/Counters:
Indifference

The Basic Practice

Wonder begins in the senses, comes alive in the imagination, and

flourishes in adoration of the Divine. It arises from our natural curiosity
about the grand adventure of life. It increases our capacity to be a bold
inner space tripper and an avid explorer of the physical world.

There is no end to the things that can awaken our wonder, from the
majesty of the night sky to the smell of lilacs in the spring to the turning
of the leaves in the fall. And it is all right here, a feast of epiphanies and
astonishments in the daily round of our spiritual lives.

The first step in this spiritual practice is to rejoice in the play of our
senses: smell, touch, taste, hear, and see. Slow down and tune into the
varied world of this and that. You'll never get anywhere with this
practice by rushing.
Why This Practice May Be For You

Indifference — that listless, blasé, and detached feeling — is the contrast

to wonder. We can never be astonished, awestruck, or surprised when we
are either overwhelmed or underwhelmed. Feeling the first, we don't
notice the subtle blessings in our surroundings; we don't take the time to
stop and smell the roses. Feeling underwhelmed, we couldn't care less.
"So what?" becomes our response instead of "ah-ha!" Wonder is an
antidote to both conditions.

This spiritual practice spices up our life with a constant parade of new
delights. Most glorious of all, it enhances sensuousness, that elixir that
keep us forever young in spirit!

Quotations

Borrowing the lens of a poet's sensibility, we see the world in a richer

way — more familiar than we thought, and stranger than we knew, a
world laced with wonder. Sometimes we need to be taught how and
where to seek wonder, but it's always there, waiting, full of mystery and
magic. — Diane Ackerman in Deep Play

I think we all have a core that's ecstatic, that knows and that looks up to
wonder. We all know that there are marvelous moments of eternity that
just happen. We know them. — Coleman Barks

If you become Christ's you will stumble upon wonder upon wonder and
every one of them true. — Saint Brendan of Birr quoted in The Open Gate
by David Adam

The tin foil collectors and the fancy ribbon savers may be absurd, but
they're not crazy. They are the ones who still retain the capacity for
wonder that is the root of caring. — Robert Farrar Capon in Bed & Board

A mature sense of wonder does not need the constant titillation of the
sensational to keep it alive. It is most often called forth by a
confrontation with the mysterious depth of meaning at the heart of the
familiar and the quotidian. — Sam Keen in Apology for Wonder

At the back of our brains, so to speak, there was a forgotten blaze or

burst of astonishment at our own existence. The object of the artistic
and spirited life was to dig for this submerged sunrise of wonder. — G. K.
Chesterton in Chaucer

It is confirmation to me that beyond the material world of cause and

effect, there is a dimension of spirit waiting for our recognition. We see
such a small piece of all the wonder surrounding us. — Paula D'Arcy in
Gift of the Red Bird

To pray is to take notice of the wonder, to regain a sense of the mystery

that animates all beings, the divine margin in all attainments. —
Abraham Joshua Heschel quoted in Finding Your Own Spiritual Path by
Peg Thompson

May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of
wonder. — John O'Donohue in Eternal Echoes

Wonder encourages us to stand humbly before the unfathomable

mysteries of human life, trusting that, in them, we encounter God. —
Melanie Svoboda in Traits of a Healthy Spirituality

But if we mean to choose the world, we must see God in the people who
come under our care. That is, we must see them as at bottom no
different from ourselves. No matter our busyness, no matter our own or
others' flaws, we need at some point to see every human being as a
marvel, a berry held up in sunlight, worthy of wonder. — Philip Simmons
in Learning to Fall

Contemplate the wonders of creation, the Divine dimension of their

being, not as a dim configuration that is presented to you from a
distance, but as the reality in which you live. — Rabbi Abraham Isaac
Kook quoted in The Gift of Kabbalah by Tamar Frankiel

It takes grace in our time to keep our minds open to wonder, to be ready
for the tug from God, the push from the Spirit, and the revelation of
deep things from the hearts of ordinary people. It takes grace, but it is a
great gift. — Lewis B. Smedes in How Can It Be All Right When Everything
Is All Wrong?
Open my eyes,
O God,
to the marvels that surround me.
Show me the wonder
of each breath I take,
of my every
thought,
word
and movement.
— Rebbe Nachman of Breslov in The Gentle Weapon

I join my hands in thanks

for the many wonders of life;
for having twenty-four brand-new hours before me.
— Thich Nhat Hanh in Call Me by My True Names

Book Excerpts

An Excerpt from The Courage to Teach:

Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life
by Parker Palmer

Parker Palmer challenges teachers of all stripes to

emphasize identity and integrity over technique. In
the following passage, the author writes about the
value of wonder.

"Normally, when we are taken by surprise, there is

a sudden narrowing of our visual periphery that
exacerbates the fight or flight response — an
intense, fearful, self-defensive focusing of the "gimlet eye" that is
associated with both physical and intellectual combat. But in the
Japanese self-defense art of aikido, this visual narrowing is countered by
a practice called "soft eyes," in which one learns to widen one's
periphery, to take in more of the world....

"Soft eyes, it seems to me, is an evocative image for what happens when
we gaze on sacred reality. Now our eyes are open and receptive, able to
take in the greatness of the world and the grace of great things. Eyes
wide with wonder, we no longer need to resist or run when taken by
surprise. Now we can open ourselves to the great mystery."

An Excerpt from The Divine Feminine in Biblical Wisdom Literature

Translation and Annotation of Rabbi Rami Shapiro

Rabbi Rami Shapiro presents the actions,

challenges and delights of Mother Wisdom in
Biblical wisdom literature. Here is an excerpt on
the spiritual practice of wonder.

The beginning of Wisdom?

Wonder!
The culmination of Wisdom?
Wonder!
The crown of Wisdom?
Wonder!
The root of Wisdom?
Wonder!
And Her branches?
Long life!

— Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sirach 1:14, 16, 18, 20

"When you begin the Way of the sage you do so in wonder. When you
complete the journey, your wonder is compounded. No matter where you
travel, the world is a fierce and wondrous thing.

"Each step of your journey is filled with wonder. It is how you know you
are on the Path. If you investigate Wisdom and find your heart grown
cold, then you know it is not Wisdom you explore but folly. Wisdom is
passionate and heartfelt, giving rise to compassion and love. Falsehood
weaves a life of bitterness and fear, giving rise to cynicism, anger, and
despair masquerading as irony."
Teaching Stories

A Teaching Scene from Spring Forward

directed by Tom Gilroy

This touching movie chronicles the

unlikely friendship between Paul, just
out of prison for armed robbery, and
Murph, nearing retirement from his job
with the parks department in a small
town. Working together, driving from one
outdoors job to another, they talk about this and that — routine, karma,
apologies, dreams, infocommercials, betrayal, sex, fathers and sons, the
little challenges and satisfactions of their daily lives.

One day in the fall they are out by a field rimmed with trees flush with
brightly colored leaves. Their conversation turns to poetry. Murph relates
that his brother told him a story about a Native American tribe that had
the same word for "poetry" as they had for "breath." He adds, "So
breathing was like a poem."

"Maybe that was why they didn't need books," Paul says as he surveys the
beauty around him. "If breathing is like poetry and you walk around and
this is what you see, you live in the poem."

The two men pause and are just present to each other and the place.
Then in the distance a church bell chimes — a call to attention.

Daily Cue, Reminder, Vow, Blessing

• When my senses are tingling, I take it as a cue to practice wonder.

• Passing a tabloid rack in a grocery store, I am reminded that my

curiosity can be trained on wonders not sensationalism.

• Whenever I notice fresh dew drops on the grass, I vow to appreciate

the wonders in the world afresh every day.

• Blessed is the Great Artist who fills our very being with wonder.
Spiritual Exercises

Have a "Wonder Week." Concentrate each day on a different sense:

Monday, smell; Tuesday, touch; Wednesday, taste; Thursday, seeing;
Friday, hearing; and Saturday, synesthesia (the interplay of the senses).
Notice what each sense is drawn to and irritated by. Try to expose your
senses to new sensations. Go into a natural food stores, where herbs and
spices are stored in bulk, and see how many you can identify by smell
alone. Walk barefoot. Assemble a platter of as many tastes as possible:
salty, sweet, bitter, bland, etc. Look for odd color combinations. Scan
the stations on your radio noticing types of music, modulations of voices,
and more.