Tip of My Iceberg

One evening, we sat on our porch when a most unusual bird approached us. It seemed unafraid and made its way onto our porch within about ten feet of us. Kolly, a one-year-old, was fascinated. She tried talking to the critter and began to walk to him, only to be constrained by her mom.

I’ve never seen one of these birds before. I wish I’d had one of my birding friends nearby–they’d have known what this was. I believe it was a wood stork; I sent a picture of the bird to my good friend in Ohio who knows birds and can actually identify them by their calls.

I don’t have a clue. But Kolly was totally fascinated.

She kept her eyes on the bird, following as closely as her mom would let her, pointing and talking to him with a language all her own. He watched her carefully, unafraid, venturing closer before moving away. He was beautiful to behold.

When he flew away, Kolly waved.

Awe and wonder come so quickly to children who are genuinely amazed at things they see for the first time. Their ability to be stunned is the opposite of the typical callousness of adults who refuse to be impressed by anything.

One of the great sadnesses of today I think is the lack of being impressed or amazed by anything around us. Not something on social media, not something promoted by an influencer, not something impressive attained and or purchased.

We need to experience awe and wonder in the small beauties of every day. The beautiful symmetry of a plant. The multitude of hues of green on a tree. The smile of someone who is finally experiencing health after a long illness.

Too often we expect life to impress us. We forget that God in all His magnificence has already done that.

Jesus healed many while He was here, but one in particular was a paralyzed man those friends were so committed to helping him that they lowered the hurting man through a roof in front of Jesus. He healed him because of the faith of his friends. The crowds were stunned.

“Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, ‘We have seen amazing things today.’” Luke 6:26

People saw this and doubted what Jesus had done. Even though they had seen with their own eyes a man they knew, paralyzed for his whole life, get up and walk, they still doubted. Because they didn’t want to believe what they didn’t understand.

We miss out on so much because we don’t want to believe what is happening around us, those unexplainable things: people finding hope in Jesus, relationships restored, and people being forgiven. We miss the wonder because we ignore those things that indicate the existence of a God who is bigger and more powerful than us.

We can only be awed by what we can’t define or understand.

Who among us can understand the infinite and magnificent granduer of God?