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Wonder: (noun) “A feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by something beautiful, remarkable, or unfamil- iar”1; desire to know something thoroughly; (verb) to feel curious and engage in imagination.
We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words—to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.
C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
Today, I would like to share a part of the story of my first chapter with you so that you can enter into our wonder-filled story of an unforgettable evening as we cuddled together in the Colorado Mountains. (And you can listen to me tell it on the podcast today.)
Memorable and momentous occasions rarely announce themselves ahead of time, but often tiptoe quietly into the corners of our lives and yet leave a profound influence. So this particular evening stands out to all of us as a sort of mysteriously sacred shared event that shaped a deep part of our souls.
In the late evening just after sunset, chill mountain breezes of a summer night swirled around us, and I shivered involuntarily. Thousands of stars shone above like diamonds on a velvet cloak and beckoned to us to stop, to enter into their reality.
Tonight we should sleep out under the stars, I thought. I had not seen such a cloudless, clear view of the night skies in a very long time.
When I announced my plan, excitement burst forth through squeals, jumping up and down, smiles that lit up the room. Making plans and giving orders, I bustled about, dragging sleeping bags and pillows onto our deck. At 7,300 feet in elevation, our little rustic home was tucked away at the foot of towering Colorado Rockies, bordering 25,000 acres of national forest.
We were surrounded by the long, dark shadows of the trees waltzing to a mountain song, and the pine forest whistled as the breeze gently moved branches back and forth. We found ourselves invited to a dramatic perfor- mance by an infinite array of stars twinkling across our night sky.
Here, away from the lights of the city, the whole world of sky sparkled with movement and flashes as though elegantly parading in the heavens, in sync with the pine trees. We considered that we had box seats and were audience to the angels rollicking, swirling in the light, moving to the rhythm of the swaying branches, just for our pleasure. Our magical night world was awash with mystery and whimsy.
Four-year-old Joy plopped into my lap as I eased onto our old wooden bench. Her brothers, Joel, twelve, and Nathan, ten, ran wildly up and down our deck, yelling, punching, giggling, and pointing to a shooting star here and the Milky Way there.
A Wonderful Beginning
Clay, my husband, turned up the soft acoustic music from inside the house so that a symphony of haunting melodies accompanied this tran- scendent evening of delight. The night sky darkened and marked the time for us to cuddle for warmth in a pile under the sleeping bags. We all lay flat on the creaky deck, looking up into the showcase of myriad glimmering lights. In this auditorium of splendor, we all marveled. An almost sacred hush fell over us and gave calm and peace to our previously distracted souls.
Sarah, at fifteen, was wrapped in a warm quilt. Hidden in a dark corner, she watched the beauty in the safe comfort of her private imaginations.
All of us were wonder-struck at the infinite stars, the sky chandelier shimmering, the vastness of the celestial art above. A calm blanketed us in our delighted participation together as we breathed in the spectacular expanse so generously given us that never-to-be-forgotten night.
As we submitted to the silence and reveled in the glorious moment, the marvel of its vastness seemed to quell any small worries or issues that had troubled us before, and we breathed release and felt peace. Each of us was caught up in our own “mind castles,” where feelings and thoughts danced through our wonderings, elegantly, freely, in celebration of the grace of our moments.
The six of us were invisibly joined together as the threads of our hearts were woven through the unspoken sharing. As we sat in reverie of the gran- deur, we were enveloped with the sense of an artist greater than us, and with an awareness of being small but hidden in our Creator’s magnificence. Merely to be in the vastness of such a display of power and beauty all at once was to witness sublime reality beyond our comprehension.
We were captured in the wonder of it all, together.
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