cultural journal #2: wonder

Ladies in colorful gowns twirl and step under glistening chandeliers. A scribe copies hieroglyphics in the cool shade of a stone pillar. A knight takes a deep breath as his page secures his helmet. A captain lifts his instruments to the skies and reads where he's going from the stars.

We read about these things and hear tell of them in history classes, but it's hard for us to realize that they actually happened. That's why when we step into a building that is centuries old we feel a sense of wonder......an amazing realization that thousands of other hearts beated and thousands of other voices laughed and chattered and wailed.

In Europe, there are beautiful, preserved relics and monuments left from past generations. I love walking into an old church (especially when there is hardly anyone there) and just feeling the silence. I love to sit in a cloister and look at the organ in the gallery I can't reach and wish I could touch its ancient keys. I love to watch the light seep through the beautiful stained glass windows. I love to read the signs that unobtrusively tell me that the church, used for various purposes, has been there since 1400. I love the way my problems soak into obscurity.

It's because of the sense of wonder. I once heard wonder defined as, "...a feeling of awe at being in the presence of something bigger than yourself." I feel wonder when I realize that I am such a small part of the universe. It's not an uncomfortable feeling of being cramped, it actually makes me feel more free. It's not all about me, after all.

Seek moments to be quiet and feel wonder.