Struck with a Sense of Wonder

I was struck with a sense of wonder while eating a handful of sweet lanzones after dinner last night. When I opened one fruit of lanzones, I noticed the delicate and ingenuous arrangement of the pieces of the fruit, as each piece can be taken individually for human enjoyment and consumption.

And I come to think of a wise, loving, and generous Giver and Creator who thought of creating lanzones, apples, mangoes, bananas, grapes, guyabano, cherries, blackberries, strawberries, durians, coconuts, pears, peaches, oranges, lemons, ponkans, kiwis, melons, watermelons, and other fruits for human enjoyment. There must be a God who created each kind of fruit with its own taste, shape, color, texture, and nutrients for humans to enjoy and be nourished with. These fruits cannot be products of a godless evolution or random accident. The delicate texture and arrangement and the distinct taste, shape, and color of each fruit must be products of intelligent design of a wise, generous, and loving Creator.

I am filled with a sense of wonder, and the wonder can be extended to the other objects in nature – both the plant and animal species. Flowers come in varying types, colors, shapes and delicate arrangements of petals. Flowers are meant to adorn nature and delight the human senses, especially of sight, touch, or smell. I am filled with a sense of wonder to think of the delicate shapes and colors of various flowers such as jasmines, gumamelas, ilang-ilang, roses, daisies, tulips, orchids, dahlias, lilies, violets, sunflowers, etc. Animals, too, come in varying types, shapes, characteristics, and abilities. We can all wonder and take delight to see various breeds of dogs and cats, and marvel at the elephants, horses, birds, different kinds of fishes, dolphins, deer, antelopes, reindeers, gazelles, kangaroos, pandas, bears, giraffes, and many more.

I invite the readers to cherish a sense of wonder at these things in nature, which can only be the products of intelligent design, creativity, and divine power. We can raise our sense of wonder to the heavenly bodies in the universe, or to different universes. Our planet is but a speck in the vast universe, and our Sun is only one star amongst millions of stars, and the galaxy where our solar system is found is said by astronomers and scientists to be only one among billions of galaxies spread out in the universe or other universes. Our sense of wonder is raised to the level of a feeling of awe, a profound and reverent feeling of dread and wonder at the supernatural.

Most of all, we can cherish a sense of wonder and awe at the extent of God’s love for humankind when He sent His only begotten Son to become human in this infected planet, not just infected with virus but infected with sin which corrodes and corrupts human nature, souls, and behaviors, in order to live a very humble life of a carpenter, preach the Good News, heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead back to life, and suffer the death of a criminal when He has done nothing wrong but proclaim that He is the Light of the World and the Bread of Life. It is unfortunate to deny this revelation of a God who sent His Son to redeem the world, as it showed the extent of God’s love for humankind.

This God has a special liking for children since children are characterized by innocence and the capacity to wonder, and still largely free from malice and deceit. It is to children that God has revealed some important things like what he revealed to Colton Burpo in the book and movie Heaven is for Real and to Akiane Kramarik, who, at the age of eight, prodigiously painted the Prince of Peace, the only picture of Jesus whom Colton recognized as resembling the real image of Jesus whom he saw in heaven when he became seriously ill.

May we keep a sense of wonder every day and take time to pause and wonder each time we hold a fruit to eat, each time we gaze at the firmament of heaven, and may we reflect on the fact that the Creator holds our planet Earth in his hands, knows everything that is happening in it, and has a sovereign design for its destiny and the destiny of the creatures living in it.