Wonder

Yesterday (Easter) in church, one of the main points of the sermon I heard was that we need to wonder at the mystery of the resurrection. All of our scientific research and material pursuits have not led us to be able, at all, to explain the miracle that occurred on that first Easter: that Jesus Christ, a man who was dead, was risen from the grave. Not only that, He appeared to others, nearly 600, as proof of His resurrection. In fact, all of our scientific reasoning has only served to decrease our wonder and amazement at this most miraculous, most glorious of events. We reduce the resurrection to a myth, and in the process, take away all of the mythic splendor and otherworldliness that accompanies the historical event. The resurrection cannot be seen as a myth: it is no explanation of why things are the way they are, no abstract statement of an apparent truth. No, the resurrection must be seen as an unexpected, unimaginable, miracle. Any other conception of it steals the mystery, the amazement, the wonder.

One of my favorite authors, David James Duncan, has a few things to say about wonder in his most recent book, 'God Laughs and Plays.' It is not a Christian book, but it does make some very powerful, very convicting observations about the state of Christianity and the church in our world. (His fiction is fantastic. The River Why and The Brothers K are two of my favorite books.) Here is what he has to say:

"Wonder is my second favorite condition to be in, after love - and I sometimes wonder whether there's even a difference: maybe love is just wonder aimed at a beloved. Wonder is like grace, in that it's not a condition we grasp: wonder grasps us. (Contrast this with the statement from the Time article that says 'sin is what separates us from grace.') We do have the freedom to elude wonder's grasp. We have the freedom to do all sorts of stupid things. By deploying cynicism, rationalism, fear, arrogance, judgmentalism, we can evade wonder nonstop, all our lives. I'm not too fond of that gnarly old word, sin, but the deliberate evasion of wonder does bring it to mind. It may not be biblically sinful to evade wonder. But it is artistically and spiritually sinful.

Like grace, wonder defies rational analysis. Discursive thought can bring nothing to an object of wonder. Thought at best just circumambulates the object, the way a devout pilgrip circles Golgotha, the Bo Tree, Wounded Knee, the Kabbah. Wonder is not an obligatory element in the search for truth. We can seek truth without wonder's assistance - but seek is all we can do: there will be no finding. Until wonder descends, unlocks us, turns us slack-jawed as a plastic shepherd, truth is unable to enter. Wonder may be the aura of truth, the halo of it. Or something even closer. Wonder may be the caress of truth, touching our very skin (pg 8, 2006 edition)."