Advent 15 – Wonder

Written as an Advent Daily Devotional for the UCC in Wallace, Idaho

A couple of weeks ago, we walked in freezing fog and marveled at the peach fuzz on rocks and boards, the icicles clinging to one side of blades of grass, soaring pine trees turned white by the engulfing mist (who knew those artificial white trees could finally look real?). Today all is dark and splashy, cloaked in gray and soaked in slush. Where is the wonder that stops my steps and silences my racing mind?

To do lists and errands rule the day, overwhelming the joy of baking, the preparation of packages for loved ones far away, the togetherness of turning a house toward the celebration of joy. Rushing to cross things off the list, I let it slip that a request comes more from a need to fill a slot than inviting a star to shine. An assembly line scramble to reach the finish line is almost certain to step right over the gift of an encounter, the miracle of a tender new branch, the emergence of wonder.

Occasionally wonder arrives on a silver platter, wows and insists that I stop and stare, giving in to the silent awe that overwhelms everything else. But more often, it hovers waiting to be recognized, only to be trampled in the relentless rush to get to wherever I’m going. So for now, let me slow and breath, coaxing my mind and heart to see beyond the agenda. Who knows? With a smidgen of an opening, I just might see color in stacks of accumulated clouds, a spark in the eyes of a waiting face, the miraculous softening a single, flickering flame can bring to the dark.