Ravi Zacharias is an internationally-renowned, India-born author and apologist of the Christian faith. Unlike many apologists whose appeal is limited to the mind, Zacharias' appeal, in the shadow cast by C.S, Lewis, reaches beyond the mind to the heart. Among his many books is Recapture the Wonder, a lovely volume from which the following quotation is pulled:
"Wonder is that possession of the mind that enchants the emotions while never surrendering reason. It is a grasp on reality that does not need constant high points in order to be maintained, nor is it made vulnerable by the low points of life's struggle. It sees in the ordinary the extraordinary, and it finds in the extraordinary the reaffirmations for what it already knows. Wonder clasps the soul (the spiritual) and is felt in the body (the material). Wonder interprets life through the eyes of eternity while enjoying the moment, but never lets the momentary vision exhaust the eternal. Wonder makes life's enchantment real and knows when and where enchantment must lie. Wonder knows how to read the shadows because it knows the nature of light. Wonder knows that while you cannot look at the light you cannot look at anything else without it. It is not exhausted by childhood but finds its key there. It is a journey like a walk through the woods, over the usual obstacles and around the common distractions, while the voice of direction leads, saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it" (Isaiah 30:21, KJV). It is not at all surprising that of the seventy usages of the word wonder in the Old Testament, nearly half of them are by David, the sweet singer of Israel. Wonder and music go hand in hand. Wonder cannot help but sing. Even nature recognizes that" (Recapture the Wonder, pg. 19). Knowledge tends to dispel wonder. A child, for example, takes apart a toy to figure out how it works. Once in pieces, the child easily grows bored, abandons the pieces of the toy, and seeks another object of wonder. Adults only tend to lose their wonder more rapidly with age and experience, even exchanging wonder for cynicism. What properties of knowledge, in your mind, tend to quell enchantment? By contrast, the wonder of scripture--when enjoyed in relationship with its author--seems to deepen as knowledge expands. What, might you make up, accounts for the difference? Who do you have to become, what might you have to do, to live in the word, wisdom, and wonder of scripture and its author? |
