(Creator Words Readers…this blog is different.) It looks different-but looks are not the reason this blog is not the same as most blogs found at Creator Words. This blog is about the key to enjoying time outside. Even more important-this blog will point you to the place where you can find peace, joy, relief from boredom AND eternal rest for your soul. This blog is about wonder. Not question wonder-amazed, wow filled wonder.

God has installed wonder in every thing found in nature. There are no exceptions-even mosquitos are wonder filled. All things from just larger than microscopic to an elephant or larger still, the night sky filled with Orion the Hunter are wonder filled. There is wonder in nature that we might know God exists.

A search for wonder will eventually put you “face to face” with God. You and I need that.

This blog is different.

Read it, then begin your wonder searches. Share this blog with others-especially the teachers you know-both public and home school teachers will significantly benefit from teaching their students how to search for wonder in nature. Here we go…

“A Search for Wonder”

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature - the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”

― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Introduction

Every human has this quality: a sense of wonder. The degree to which each of us retains and nourishes our sense of wonder, installed at birth, is the degree of joy, happiness and contentment we possess. Adults usually lose their sense of wonder. Things like careers, investments, possessions and for the fortunate some-marriage and family dull and suppress the sense of wonder until it is no longer present. Every human’s sense of wonder can be restored. Go outside. Use another gift-your 5 senses. Be still. Watch and reflect on what is happening in the world. Wonder is everywhere outside. Of all the human activities we may choose to engage our time and minds with, a search for wonder is one of the most worthwhile.

The existence of wonder in nature is a gift. It is not wrapped in fancy paper. The only way to carry wonder is in the heart. Some adults think it strange to “search for wonder.” The joy of time outside is lost to them. Yet, to find wonder in nature, only two things are needed. Neither of them costs money or are difficult to obtain. The two are time and 5 senses. Every human has both. A search for wonder lasts a lifetime…no human past, present or future will fail to find new wonder with each trip outside.

What do we mean by “wonder?”

+Do we mean wonder as in question?

+We mean wonder as in awe or wow. But-using questions leads us to wonder. Often the more one questions the greater the sense of wonder. The wonder referred to by Rachel Carson is the wonder which causes:

· Audible gasps, a verbal expression of wow or…

· Silent joy, peace, a noticeable reduction in stress and a desire to return outside for more.

Fact: wonder is found in every aspect of nature. From macroscopic organisms to vast constellations in the night sky and the infinite everything else found in nature but not mentioned.

Fact: A search for wonder should be conducted frequently and regularly. The human soul needs the peace, joy, sense of well being and stimulation which can only be found in nature.

Fact: “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”

― Rachel Carson

How Might I Search for Wonder?

You will develop your own methods as you engage in personal searches for wonder. What follows is a simple suggestion to begin:

+Plan regular trips outside to search for it. If you are teacher or parent…teach your students/children to wonder.

+Take others with you. Searching for wonder with a “wonder team” actually deepens individual sense of wonder. Adults can teach children-but soon, children will find wonder we adults miss.

+Remember-what awes you may not be awe inspiring to someone on your team. The search for wonder is a personal trek-but it can be done with others. Others help us see wonder we miss.

Materials: A Journal to record the wonder you experience…remember a pencil. In cold weather sit down inside to record the wonder you experienced. Recording wonder in a journal deepens wonder.

The first few times-set up a page on your journal using this model: (develop your own later)

A Search for Wonder

Air Temp: Wind: Sky:

Date/time

Places

Questions

Wonder

How to use the above journal page. (you may consider putting the three words in vertical columns-it may be easier.)

Alone or with others, plan a walk. The more natural features where you walk, the better. Set aside a minimum of 30 minutes…work up to an hour or more. (More wonder that way.) Record the main places you go…use landmarks, locations in this place, or name the place yourself. If you are leading a group-your class, your children-take the lead-give them places, and your questions…AND your wonder (your awe, what amazes you). How will they learn to search for wonder if they don’t know what it is? Make simple lists in each column.

*Remember-after wonder searches, these lists can be used to write meaningful reflections on wonder.

*The more regularly you do wonder searches with your group-the better they will become at finding wonder. Once each month may not be enough…consider mini wonder searches conducted in shorter times.

*When you find that you and your class/children are unmotivated, restless, or bored-that is clear evidence it is time for another wonder search.

Before you leave this page…there is one more wonder. It is the greatest wonder of all-forever and forever. It is Jesus Christ becoming a baby in a manger. Then growing up in the house of Mary and Joseph and then as an adult, for 3 three years ministering to the sick and dying-people like us. The greatest wonder of the life of Jesus was His willing death on a Roman cross. There, Jesus rescued us from our sins. He paid for all of them. His death gives us right standing with God. The righteousness of Jesus allows us to experience Heaven-for eternity. This is the greatest WONDER. His name is Jesus.