A Sense of Wonder
Once a year, I make a trip to the New Jersey shore, for a week at a location known as Long Beach Island. Coming to this southern New Jersey area has been a tradition during the last week of June in my wife’s family for the last 30 years. This past Sunday my wife and I were attending mass at the local church we attend when we are on the island. A couple of times during the priest’s sermon, a small baby who must have been no more than 3 months old, shouted out in delight after the priest made a point. The priest thanked him for his approval.
A little while later during communion, the baby’s Mother came up to receive, with her child in her arm. What struck me as they approached the communion server was the baby’s sense of wonder at everything around him. He was staring at the people going up to receive communion. Soon he was turning to look at the high ceiling. From there he was looking at the art work on the wall, the altar, the large building he was in. The baby could not turn his head fast enough to gather what was going on around him.
I caught a look on the baby’s face. It was one of curiosity, one of trying to take everything in, one of asking himself, what is this or what is that? His innocence connected with me as he was absorbing the environment he was now in, and possibly one he was in for the first time.
What immediately struck me was the contrast that often happens as we age, and become adults. Often when things change in the environment of an adult, uncomfortable feelings set in. Or there is annoyance at having to put up with something new. We live in an ever changing world. And, while it is explainable for a baby a few months old that everything would be new to him in his world, changes in technology, changes which bring all parts of the world closer together, changes in philosophy being made known to others more quickly through instant communication, has made what I observed with the baby more common in the world of adults.
I must admit that sometimes I take to change well, and other times not so well. And, I suspect that happens for a large number of adults. When I accept change the best, I find I am open to learning about the change itself. I may not adopt it right away in my life. I especially may not take to it if I’m told “You have to get this tool,” or “You are foolish for doing it the way you have been doing it.” However, I am open to knowing the new way exists, and if necessary, will use it if it becomes the way I must do it to accomplish what I need to get done. However, when I am angry, annoyed, or close minded, I find it hard to adapt.
So, in going forward, maybe what I need to do when faced with something new caused by change or an uncomfortable feeling, is to focus on the image of the baby I saw last Sunday. Let my curiosity help me to better take in the world around me. Be cautious about learning what it is that I see, but at the same time, be open to learning about it. And, above all remember that we are born curious, and open to exploring. It is as we grow older and put filters in front of ourselves we lose that “sense of wonder” to the world around us.
