Well, I'm dog-sitting again, and Kit is still teaching me. She's once again strongly reinforcing the third lesson I learned last summer: curiosity is a virtue.
Curiosity At Weeds and Ditches
I took her on a walk yesterday afternoon. It was down a plain, old boring cul-de-sac, one I had been down a hundred times before, one she had too. Yet she still always hung behind me, stopped at a cluster of weeds that she had to sniff for an uncomfortably long amount of time, or peering intently into a watery ditch. "What is it?" I asked (or thought) again and again. "What is so fascinating to you?"
The answer was always the same -- nothing. There was nothing magical or even mildly interesting about the weeds or the ditch. They were just there. Yet Kit's reaction was unparalleled fascination. These boring, dirty things held unique smells and sights, and Kit wanted to drink them all in, because in this moment she was here and they were here and she wanted to explore. She was fantastically curious.
Everyday Wonder
There is wonder in God's world to be found everyday if we look for it. That's what Kit reminded me of. Flowers and feathers and mushrooms and mosquitoes are all shouting a single theme -- God. God is beautiful, God is creative, God is infinitely wise, God is creator, God is good, God is glorious. It's all written plain as day in the weeds and water and dogs if we look for it. Creation sings it.
Wonder is good for the soul. It awakens in us both joy and humility, thrusting into our heart a compelling, refreshed awe of God. It gives us a sense of happiness to be alive and yet a littleness at our place in God's big story.
So then, will you wonder at the mundane today? Will you wonder at the weeds, at muddy ditches, at animals, at color-shifting skies, at food, at it all? I hope so. And I hope it will incite in you marvelous and unchecked joy in the glory of God.