Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Wonder in a Jaded World {Reflections}
What happens when we lose our capacity for wonder? Through the lens of Abraham Joshua Heschel's profound wisdom, this episode explores how modern life has gradually eroded our ability to be amazed by the extraordinary world around us.
Ryan shares a touching moment from church where a young girl demonstrated the pure, unfiltered wonder that children naturally possess—wide eyes and open-mouthed amazement at what appeared to be a color-changing flower. This childlike capacity for wonder stands in stark contrast to our adult experiences, where familiarity and busy schedules have dulled our perception of life's everyday miracles.
"As civilization advances, the sense of wonder declines," Heschel writes, calling this "an alarming symptom of our state of mind." His powerful assertion that "life without wonder is not worth living" serves as a wake-up call for listeners. Ryan unpacks how our modern obsession with rationalism and information has left us starving for appreciation and genuine awe, reminding us that faith itself begins with wonder.
The episode doesn't just diagnose the problem—it offers practical wisdom for reclaiming wonder in our daily lives. Following advice from a rabbi who teaches children to notice nature, Ryan suggests intentional practices for rediscovering amazement: gazing at the moon and stars, observing animals with fresh eyes, and simply slowing down enough to notice the miracle of breathing. These small practices can profoundly reshape our spiritual experience and reconnect us with the divine.
Ready to transform your perspective? Join us in rediscovering the power of wonder and how it might just deepen your faith in unexpected ways. Share this episode with someone who needs a reminder of life's magic, and connect with us in person at Central in Elk River or online at clcelkriver.org.
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What is up everybody? Hey, my name is Ryan and welcome to our Reflections Podcast. And hey, a couple of podcast episodes ago I told you guys one of my favorite quotes from Brennan Manning. If you didn't hear that episode, go back and listen to it. But I thought it'd be fun to go through several of my favorite quotes from different authors or people or thinkers and just share them. Here and there I might sprinkle them in between episodes, but here's another one. And but I want to give it's a quote by one of my favorite. He's a Jewish theologian named Abraham Joshua Heschel. He's incredible, so read anything you can by Abraham Heschel. But before I tell you what he said, I want to tell you on Sunday, our friend Ben Ben is the director of student and youth you know, student and family ministries and he did this really great thing up front and invited all the kids up.
Speaker 1:And I mean you probably noticed this, but have you ever noticed how kids are just incredibly like? They're so good at wonder, like they're wide-eyed. They live lives of like constant amazement. It seems like I mean I'm sure there are some that don't, but a lot of the kids that I run into they're just like. They are so wide-eyed and full of wonder and amazement. It's amazing.
Speaker 1:And there's this one young girl in our congregation and no matter what she is like, fully present to life and to herself, and she's like this, very dramatic in the best of ways. I mean dramatic and like almost like a little actor. She's got to be like five years old, maybe four, I forget how old she is exactly and so Ben calls her forward and he's like he had this flower, he put it in this vase and he was going to change the color of the flower. You can put food coloring in the bottom of these vases with water and then it actually changes the color of the flower overnight. But he did it and then he actually he made her look away. He tricked her and she looked away and when she looked away, he swapped the roses out really fast and I was watching from the angle where I could see her face, swapped the roses out really fast and I was watching from the angle where I could see her face and he goes oh hey, look over here, look at the rose. I changed the color of the rose and she was like whoa. She was like her eyes got huge, her mouth was open and she was stunned.
Speaker 1:I'm like, oh my gosh, the joy and the wonder and amazement of little kids, it like warms my heart and I wonder, like, why are we not like that as adults? It's like life just tends to beat us down and we lose as we get older. I feel like this sense of amazement and wonder and awe, and I also think, too, that our lives are full of all kinds of things that begin to erode wonder, if you will. So, okay, I was in Boston many years ago and Mike and I could not remember if I told this story on the podcast or not, but I'm going to tell it again. And I went and caught the train up to Harvard Divinity School and I heard this Jewish rabbi lecture. He was lecturing on a modern Jewish theology of creation and at the end he said this I'll never forget it. And then I'll get to the quote. But he said hey, what do people? And he said here's what we have to offer, here's what people of faith have to offer. He said wonder. I was like what he said yeah, wonder, like people of faith can offer a sense of wonder in the world. And it began. I began to just think like what is it? So after I go I go hey, how do you, how do you do this? Like, how do you teach people how to wonder? Okay, so pause there. But to wonder? Okay, so pause there. But here's the quote from Heschel, and I'll come back to how you teach folks how to have wonder. Okay, here's the quote.
Speaker 1:Because Abraham Heschel writes a lot about this idea of wonder and amazement. In fact he sort of defines the fear of God that's commanded in the Old Testament. He says it's actually probably more appropriate to call it the wonder of God, the awe of God and having this sense of wonder. Here's what he writes. Here's the quote God and having this sense of wonder. Here's what he writes. Here's the quote.
Speaker 1:He says as civilization advances, as you know, as we become more civilized and build more concrete structures and these kinds of things, he says the sense of wonder declines. Such a decline is an alarming symptom of our state of mind. Humankind will not perish for want of information we got plenty of that but only for want of appreciation. He says the beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living. It's a mic drop right there Life without wonder is not worth living. Then he says what we lack is not a will to believe but a will to wonder. Awareness of the divine begins with wonder. I love that. And he means that, like deeply in his core, that faith begins with this wonder, having the sense to like look around and with amazement and open eyes, like a child, become full of wonder and amazement. And there's all these reasons why it's sort of been like eaten away in our lives, like we have this sense of rationalism in the modern Western world that's infatuated with rational thinking and we love science, which is great as well but because of that we've lost the sense of the mystery and the unexplainable things in the universe, and the universe is full of amazing things. So here's how you have wonder, because I think you have to practice this.
Speaker 1:And, by the way, heschel also said another favorite quote of mine. He said I didn't ask for success, I asked for wonder. So today and I asked the rabbi I go, rabbi, how do you do this? How do you have? He goes look, when I have my kids, when they're my grandkids, I take them out into nature and I just say to them hey, look at these birds and look at these fish over here, like, look at these trees like oh yeah, that's pretty simple, and so I began. This was like years ago.
Speaker 1:I began to practice this myself, like I walk outside and if you slow down and just open your eyes a bit and look around, like this is amazing, like we're on this rock, hurtling through space and there's incredible things all around us and I know it sort of becomes mundane because we see it all the time. But what if you just slow down and look like man, those birds are incredible and I can breathe a breath fresh air. I can breathe as it keeps my body alive, my body, how it's working, all that's happening in my body. It's amazing how this is working and what's happening and the fact that I'm alive and that you're alive. And here we are. It's this incredible thing.
Speaker 1:And like watch an animal, like looking at. Sometimes I look at my dog and I marvel like this is a dog that descended from a wolf, has been domesticated and he lives in my house. Like how crazy is this? And he looks at me and I know he sees me, like there's something about animals that just are mystifying and it fills me with wonder, and so today my encouragement to you is to begin to look around at the world around you and begin to notice it and see it and have a sense of wonder and ask God, come and fill me with wonder and amazement and look at the world like a child.
Speaker 1:Get and amazement. And look at the world like a child. Get out in nature and see the way the water of a river just rushes downhill or the way the trees sway in the wind or the clouds in the sky. Or go out at night my favorite thing Go out at night and just gaze at the moon. I mean it's incredible. You're seeing light bouncing from the sun, bouncing off the moon into your eyes. It's incredible. And look at the stars. Get a telescope and just look around and be a person who sees things and is filled with wonder. It just might strengthen and deepen your faith in all kinds of ways you've never seen. All right, be good. Love you guys, peace. Hey, if you enjoy this show, I'd love to have you share it with some friends. And don't forget you are always welcome to join us in person at Central in Elk River at 830, which is our liturgical gathering, or at 10 o'clock, our modern gathering, or you can check us out online at clcelkriverorg. Peace.
