Wonder

“Their eyes are full of wonder.”  “I wonder what would happen if I tried that.”  “I wonder about what the future holds.”  “I wonder when the end of the world will come and what that will be like.”

The word “wonder” tells us many things. It tells us about the surprise and awe of children when they see something for the first time or, for that matter, when someone of any age sees a spectacular sunrise like we’re having today. I am full of wonder at the pinks and golds and purples of the new day.

Or, we wonder about what will happen if we do or try this or that. Some of us do wonder about things like the end of the world or the end of civilization as we know it. We wonder if the apocalyptic images of Ezekiel and Revelation tell the true story of how the world will end. Or do floods, fires and warming oceans tell us about a gradual end of this world? When I asked last fall, what you wanted to know about what the Bible really says about….” one of your questions was about the ending of the world. So, this Sunday, Dec. 8, as part of our final series in What the Bible Really Says About…, we’re going to tackle What the Bible Says about the End of the World. 

I’d like to take us back to the sense of wonder we experience when something awe-inspiring, beautiful or surprising comes before us. I think this is the kind of wonder the Bible talks about when it says in Psalm 139:14, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.”  This kind of wonder recognizes that God is good and present, working to show us the love that is God.

On Thursday of this week, I got to see again this wonder through the eyes of children. After our three-old grandson’s adoption on Thursday, our family took a road trip to Williams and took him and our 14-year-old grandson on the Polar Express train. Surrounded by lights, snow, songs, trains, and pure joy, we got to see wonder on the faces and in the eyes of those children. Surrounded by the love of God which had brought us to this place in our lives, we could only give thanks and wonder, “what marvelous deeds does God yet have in store for those who trust in God?”

Blessings, Sharon

All morning this Sunday, Dec. 8, our Advent Workshop in Fellowship Hall will give people of all ages a chance to do mission projects and crafts. Stop by for a chance to serve and have fun in this Advent season.