A Haven for Vee

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Growing My Wonder

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries.

~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

We all know the feeling of a season dragging on. It may be a season of the year or a season of life.

Recently, I shared that I have been wandering about in a winter of my mind. This winter of mind is much like the winter outside my door. I've hunkered down not wanting to do much beyond the walls of my home. My sphere revolves around me and my beloved and this place. Marriage has been wonderful, but no marriage, however great, can take the place of an awakened spirit. In fact, I believe that both of us have been struggling with this winter of mind. You, too?

So what a relief to find a book that perfectly described the condition and teaches a way to work beyond it. I identify with the following paragraph. My name could well be placed in the parentheses and it would be accurate.

(They) are indifferent, stoic. We recognize them [the wonderless] by their fat hearts, dull ears, sluggish eyes. They have large empty spaces between their thoughts and connections to a purpose larger than themselves. They fight to get and keep control. They stand rigidly stationed at the hub of their universe. Nothing's sacred except what affects them personally.

A Piece of the Solution:

Wonder reminds the wonderless of the unknown, those things out of their control or outside of their experience: mysteries to be solved, meanings to unravel, spiritual realities to face.

A sense of wonder can be a bother. It takes time and energy to see deeply. Wondering disrupts peace and tranquility. Wonder stirs fires. Wonder opens strange doors. Wonder finds stories in the forest when it is so much easier to plow through and get on home.

So this is why I've been riding around in a truck that rumbles through town plowing snowbanks.

It will be why I have a date in March with my grands to play in the mud. I mean it. We're going to get good and dirty. I am making rivers and dams and we're going to sail twigs and boats downstream at the end of the drive you see here.

It's the reason that my computer is going to be shut down more often. The television has already been given the boot.

It'll be why I am scanning the clouds, breathing deeper, and looking at the moon in the middle of the night.

It's why I'll continue to join my beloved for morning devotions when I don't always "feel" like it.

In the end, my hope is that I will have found that I have been on a perpetual quest for wonder...that I have enjoyed a sense of awe in this world that God has given and in the people that He allows us to know and love.

I'm not going to limit my wonder to the little screen before my face nor the larger one that sends out messages that I don't wish to receive. I'm going to slow down. I'm going to listen to more birdsong and not only symphonies or praise music.

In the end, too, I hope that I will have walked closer to God. That I will praise Him more, thank Him more, worship Him more, appreciate Him more, know Him more.

Quotes have been taken from Awakening Your Sense of Wonder: Discovering God in the Ordinary by Janet Chester Bly.

Please join Melissa at The Inspired Room for more discussions on The Disconnect Challenge:Revisited.

21 comments:

  1. Vee - thank you for setting this standard and for being an example in this! I heartily agree! You said something about not limiting your wonder to that little screen in front of you! Yes! Our vision can get so narrow and we don't experience the full wonder of the life God intended for us to live in full measure - outside the box!(Whether that box is the house, the TV or the computer! And having a time in the Word with your husband in the morning! Yeah! You've chosen well!! Love ya and God bless and enrich your life!

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  2. Vee this was simply beautiful. So well said. Good things always happen when we intentionally focus on the wonders of God. The important things become clearer, more vibrant, breathtaking, exquisite...those are the things that make us feel fully alive!

    Thank you for pointing the way in which we should walk and the things we should be fully aware of..I don't want to miss the wonder.
    Blessings,
    Ruthann

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  3. Thanks so much for this Vee. What a great reminder to all of us.
    Make sure you take pictures of the Mud Pie adventure! I'd love to see those... hehehe.
    Laura

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  4. A sense of wonder and the time and inclination to foster it can be elusive. The TV is never on unless the Farmer is home, but the horrendously cold temperatures prevent me from going outside to immerse myself in the natural world. The recent vacation certainly helped in that regard, but it's back to reality and 19 degree temperatures.

    Thanks Vee, as always a thoughtful post.

    - Suzanne, the Farmer's Wife

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  5. Absolutely true, Vee, every word. I am there too. I am stuck in a routine which precludes opportunities for wonder and adventure, and it has to stop. In a sense that is why I have been quieter than usual too. I spent yesterday away from the computer, reading a book which delighted my senses, and today I have been doing rather than observing. I need to come out of hibernation. I will see if the book is available here too. Thanks for writing this and putting into words what I am thinking. You know, when we think along similar lines so frequently we really do become kindred spirits!

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  6. All that playing in the mud is right up my alley!!! Can't wait until my grandchildren are old enough to set up play in the mud dates with! I could go on and on about the importance of those mud experiences on brain development- a lot more than can be said for TV and computers!

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  7. First ~~ I'm still doing a happy dance, because of your comment in my blog. :-))))

    A thoughtful and inspiring entry! Who doesn't fall into 'the winter of the soul' at times? The blahs... The oh-who-cares's... The what-difference-does-it-make's... Etc.

    An aside, before we get too depressed at this, think! An all-the-time-perky person can be a drag toooooo, though. -giggles-

    Cycles. Circles. Everything in nature, is cyclical. Why not our moods?

    But why let ourselves veg-out in the doldrums, either? No. No. No.

    Do what you're doing... Know where we're at. And seek a way out of it. :-) Thank you for the push.

    Btw, that's one of the things I like about Colette... She was always noticing/appreciating things. Always. The title of her "Earthly Paradise" says it. In it, her descriptions of an idyllic Burgundian childhood show this.

    And to quote the jacket of that book; "For Colette, there is always something worth looking at -- whether the petals of an orchid, the way Sarah Bernhardt poured coffee, or her own heartbreak, and this lifetime homage was not her 'message,' but simply her form of prayer."

    Aunt Amelia
    "It seems a long time since the morning mail could be called correspondence."
    ~Jacques Barzun

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  8. Vee,
    May your path to wonder be blessed with success and may it chase away the winter of your soul. Beautiful post.

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  9. You could put my name in the parenthesis some days.
    Good for you for seeking that sense of wonder - and working on it. When we lose concsiousness of that wonder we're in trouble.
    Thanks for that.

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  10. I so agree with you and further, I think, there are times when our eyes, our thoughts and our hearts are shrouded for a time to teach us the wonder of it all when the vail lifts. This tough economic time may be a gift in disguise, much as my cancer was to me, to teach us what is truly important, meaningful and God-given.
    Thank you for expressing you feelings so succinctly an allowing our minds to carry that thought further.
    Have a glorious week-end and listen to all those lovely bird-songs!

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  11. Don't beat yourself up Vee. I believe God allows us to have these times of negativity. The very thing that presses us to a more positive living. We always appreciate the mountain top more when we have come up from the valley. The deserts were meant to be.

    You can see yourself the new life you have by coming through it all in God's good timing.Trust His life in you. Blessings.

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  12. A beautiful and true message. Thanks Vee!
    Hugs,
    Cathie

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  13. Amen and amen! A wonderful reminder to take time to appreciate all the blessings God has given to us! Thank you for visiting my site. Hugs, Loretta

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  14. Beautifully said, Vee! I've been "disconnecting" since Melissa's first challenge last year and haven't regretted a minute of it.

    xo,
    Lynda

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  15. I think for all those reasons you mentioned is why I enjoy my morning walk so much. :-)
    All your ideas sound great - sometimes simple is more!

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  16. I went back to the link you mentioned. It is interesting to see the younger woman are too busy and don't get any time to themselves. The older woman have to much time and end up focusing too much on themselves in there own little world.

    My prayer is for balance according to God's economy.

    To try to learn from the season I am in.

    To appreciate and have friends in every generation, and in many avenues of life.

    Blessings on your journey of "Growing Your Wonder" I am sure it is going to be a fascinating adventure.

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  17. A wonderful, inspiring post. I've always loved that Elizabeth Browning verse. I feel that we, here, have been in a winter of the mind, too - hunkered down in our little bunker or struggling forward with our heads down and not really seeing all the wonder that is right before us.

    I'm ready to come out of this - it's off with the shoes!!

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  18. I remember reading once that too much computer time leads to depression. It is too isolating and confining. As much as we relish our blogs and e-mail, etc, we still need real life friendships and activities. Very often I keep weekends computer free and spend my time outside or doing things together with my husband. With the spring and summer coming soonv(after tomorrow's big snowstorm ..lol) there will be even more reason to go outside and get away from the computer....so I will be joining you in the search for "wonder" Vee.

    Just like taking up a good book for relaxation it's still good to tune into a good blog, so I'll still be checking yours and delighting when you update, but please feel free to take time away and enjoy!

    Hugs, Pat

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  19. Some beautiful thoughts Vee. My thoughts are with you and your newfound wisdom. xo Terri

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  20. This was really a good and moving post...Hugs...m.

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  21. I love this post Vee. You are so inspiring, I love the thought of growing your wonder!!!

    blessings,
    melissa

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