Wonder
“Wonder is that possession of the mind that enchants the emotions while never surrendering reason.”
A few days ago I’ve started to read Ravi Zacharias’ book “Recapture the wonder”. I’ve started with the intention of studying it and making a summary of its main ideas. Instead my experience from the very first lines was unexpected.
I know I love the ocean with all my heart and this may be the reason the author’s words managed to move me this way, still it felt so special, like coming from another world. I think I had one of these moments that give us a deeper revelation of ourselves when we expect it the least, it was literally like falling into enchantment and a beautiful feeling of gratefulness.
The author said he “stood at the edge of the land and watched as the waters of the calm Atlantic and the restless Indian Oceans collided into one massive torrent of fluid strength, the power of the current almost visible to the naked eye… The endless horizon, the borderless blue and turquoise of the mighty waters, and the frothy white tips of the crashing waves as they collided against each other…” He said this scene from the world’s end was overwhelming ‘with a stupendous sense of awe.’
I’ve never been there at Cape Point and never seen oceans meet but reading his words I could literally see in front of my eyes the waves crushing against each other before becoming one and making peace in a colorful, blue embrace. Once again I’ve realized the ocean- wild, deep, scary- is what wonder must mean for me. It never fails to touch my heart. Close to the ocean I forget about myself and the world and there is not one bit of negative emotion left. It has that effect, to make me feel from another world… The wilder, the deeper, the better. So I suspect the meeting point of these oceans must be indeed incredible- to see, to navigate, to conquer…
“….in our fast, routine and self-centered lives, we lose that wonder so quickly. But if we’ve experienced it once, we’ll always pine for it – at least to a degree. Some resign themselves to “whatever will be, will be,” but some of us earnestly seek after that wonder. To quote Zacharias, “Deep within every human heart throbs the undying hope that somebody or something will bring both an explanation of what life is all about and a way to retain the wonder.” Ruth Friesen
