What is Emerging?

We all have those special places that remain in our hearts and fill us with wonderment which we can pull out of our memory at a moment’s notice. One of my favorite memories is when I was about 6 or 7 living at Pass Creek Ranch six miles out of Kremmling, Colo. I often wandered up the hill by the house (which I thought was a mountain) carrying my small lunch box and wondering about the smell of the sagebrush and why certain rocks were in piles along the way and talking to the little chipmunks who lived on the mountain. Then sitting on a log, I ate my sandwich while looking at the sky and forming pictures from the clouds or looking down the mountain at our home and the creek and wondering why they all looked so small.

I never realized why those experiences stayed in my heart until I began to read more about the need for awe and wonder in our lives. And how important it is to have these memories so that one can return to these special spaces and experience once again the wonder of it all.

As an adult I have learned that wonder is the beginning of wisdom. It is where love begins. To wonder is to cultivate a sense of awe and openness to others, to their experiences. To wonder about nature or people is to be able to see them as opposed to look at them. When you see people or a tree, or flower or leaf, etc., you know them; when you look at people, or nature or anything, you merely glance at them and they’re forgotten.

We invite you to join us in pondering your own sense of wonder. What is your first memory of being wonderstruck? When you encounter another person, do you see her/him, or do you just look at her/him? How can we bring more wonder into our lives? If you would like to share your reflections with us, we would be happy to receive them. Thank you.