18 Nov Wonder? Who needs wonder? (You do.) (We all do.)
Most days, our lives feel too full for wonder.
The news scrolls on, our calendars are overloaded, and our hearts are crowded with worry and noise. Yet Advent whispers, slow down. Look again. There is wonder—hidden in ordinary mornings, passed in small kindnesses, with us in the waiting and watching and longing itself.
Slow down. Look again. Pay attention.
As I’ve been reflecting on the year we’ve had here in Chicago, I’ve been thinking a lot about wonder. This is my first Advent Season here at WCC, which means it’ll be my first time attending our Christmas Pageant.
My first Christmas Pageant will be WCC’s 110th, which is pretty wonder-ful to begin with.
We’re all familiar with the characters—with the people—in the Christmas Pageant story. We know their names, we recognize them by their period costumes, but how do we really bring them to life? How do we discover what love, or faith, or curiosity led them to say yes to playing their role in this ancient story? Yes to carrying a mysterious divine child, or yes to supporting a suddenly pregnant fiance, or yes to traveling hundreds of miles to meet a holy toddler?
I wonder. And I think when we wonder, we build a bridge between the well-worn words in our Bibles and the very real reality of our modern lives.
So many of us are living with, or witnessing, grief, doubt, disruption, and exhaustion. We’re not unlike Mary, suddenly pregnant and facing the huge responsibility of raising God’s child. We’re not unlike Joseph, mourning the plans he had for his life and stepping into a complicated unknown.
Where did they find the resilience to move forward? What is the hope that keeps us going toward whatever is coming next?
Slow down. Look again. Pay attention.
Wonder is curiosity and discovery, possibility and resonance. It’s a shifting perspective, a richer understanding, a deep well of joy. Wonder offers renewal to our weariness and restores our delight in the Divine. We need wonder to remind us that love still breaks through, that hope still appears, and God still shows up in the most unexpected places.
We might need wonder now more than ever.
So throughout the month of December, we’ll be inviting you to make room for wonder both, at home and together in community. Whether you decide to participate with our free digital daily Advent calendar, mourn with us through the Longest Night on 12/17, join me at my first WCC children’s Christmas pageant, or simply show up to worship with us on Christmas Eve, the invitation is the same: to clear a little space, to open yourself to awe, to breathe in mystery, to welcome wonder into your holiday plans.
I know we all have a lot on our minds and plates this time of year. But I want to challenge you just a little. I want to ask you to do three things:
- Choose to say yes to the practice of making room for wonder. Say yes to the invitation and jump in with your heart open, with your hands ready, and with your mind curious. Make room for the Spirit to speak to you.
- Let the wonder you find move you to become the change you want to see in our community. Let it motivate, inspire, and energize you. We can’t solve everything, but we can seize this moment to put into action whatever wonder is shaping in your heart.
- Come to church. Let’s do this together. Let’s make a decision to be each other’s bridge to wonder, and to let wonder be our bridge to action, to hope, and to joy.
Join us this Advent season as we make room for wonder, as we lean into the hope, rest, and resonance that has always been right here waiting for us.
Slow down. Look again. Pay attention.
Let’s discover just how much good a little wonder can do.
To learn more about our events this holiday season or to receive the digital Advent Calendar, with simple to follow, wonder-cultivating prompts in your email inbox throughout December, click here.
