Awe and Wonder
A Reflection by Seth Dickson
The Scriptures poetically describe Jesus as a light which shined into the darkness two thousand years ago. He was a light that lived among us, yet one that few noticed and even fewer recognized. His light, it seems, did not shine in a way that anyone expected or thought worthy of attention. If God was going to bring peace on earth, it was likely to happen in a revolution. A messiah would unroot an emperor. The kingdom of heaven installed in place of a tyrannical political machine.
But this light was not found where people tended to look. It was the unknown man from Nazareth, the rejected preacher, the naked man on the cross. It was God as an infant, born to a helpless family crammed in a dirty manger crowded with livestock. It is a beautiful and unlikely story that speaks the most profound truth about who we are and where light is to be found—in the dirt and grit and struggle of the human experience. The Incarnation itself, it turns out, is a vulnerable, fragile reality.
Two thousand years later, not much has changed. We tend to look for light in conventional success. We expect to be awed and amazed by its unmistakable glory. Yet the Christmas story invites us to consider that what we’ve been waiting for may have already arrived. This light is sweet and subtle and can shine right under your nose. If Advent is a time of waiting for Christ to shine again, then we might need to widen our gaze and sensitize our hearts to take it in.
There is the light we want and then there is the Light as it is. As adults, we tend to lose the wonder and amazement of the world that we had as children. There were the playgrounds of our youth, but now we’ve got programs to manage life’s complexities and make us happy. It seems we are either chasing some obscure light ahead or trying to manufacture it on our own with white-knuckle control.
This all comes at a cost—we miss the wonder found in the very ordinariness of life. Children have the remarkable capacity to be amazed by it all. We’ve got agendas. They have experiences. While we’re planning the next mountain to climb, they’ve found a small flower poking up from a crack in the sidewalk. What is wonderful about God’s world is not so much what flashes here or there amazingly and unexpectedly. It’s that what is wonderful is all around us all the time.
For Advent this year, consider that the light you are waiting for may not be solutions to problems you have, but a reminder that God’s presence abounds in the messiness of it all. Where in life do you feel most anxious, resistant, or in need of a quick fix? May you slow down here, breathe, and notice the Light gently shimmering before your tired eyes.
Seth Dickson, Sacred Self Sacred Community facilitator
Seth is part of our Sacred Self, Sacred Community program starting in January.
Seth has a podcast on this subject and has written a longer version on his blog, Soul Search.
Share Your Thoughts
How can you reconnect with Divine awe and wonder during this Advent season?