Coming on the heels of Mystery is the sanctuary of WONDER.
Wonder is our human response to mystery.
And again, we allow our children to be our best guides into this sanctuary,
and Christmas is the time we allow ourselves to linger in its space. Wonder provides the fibers and yarns that
weave through our Christmas season and celebrations, knitting the sacred time
and the sanctuaries together.
We yearn for wonder, but often don’t recognize it. We may mistakenly pursue instead the goal of making
sure everyone is happy…happy with the right gifts, with enough gifts, with the right food, the right decorations, the right
invitations, etc. regardless of any deeper meaning. But, wonder is not found in our scurrying
around and stressing out, in our acquisitions and achievements. Wonder is only found when one quiets down,
when one looks around, when one allows oneself to savor and see the presence (the
true presents!) of mystery.
The shepherds watching over their sheep, resting beneath the
starry cosmos, are the images in our Christmas story of wonder. They are startled to
their knees by the sound and sight of what they perceive as angels singing God’s
glory and announcing some amazing news of great joy. They go to find the Holy Family, and they are
the first to bow down before the baby in the manger with wonder and adoration.
A couple of Christmases ago, I experienced a moment of
wonder and awe during a Christmas Eve worship service. Before this year, all of my Christmas Eve
services were spent with congregations of 50 to 100 people. The time came usually at the end of every
Christmas Eve service when “Silent Night” would be sung and everyone’s candles
would be lit. It normally is the moment
of Christmas Eve that carries the most awe and wonder for me. What I hadn’t anticipated in my new church
during my first Christmas Eve with them was the effect of a congregation of 500+
people standing and singing “Silent Night” with raised candles! It took my breath away.
Without the sanctuary of Wonder, we as human beings are
quick to succumb to the seduction of the superficial and of quick
gratifications. Our rituals become empty and inadequate. Our Christmas season becomes about as
meaningful as a haphazardly erected artificial Christmas tree, with a few
scraggly ornaments, stuck in the corner of a convenience gas station, near the
racks of potato chips and spare windshield wipers! The sanctuary of Wonder, which appears on the
other side of the threshold of Mystery, is what feeds the deepest parts of our
souls. Without it, we starve.
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