A Meditation on Wonder

Quote of the day:
“Taxpayers describe the very high cost of keeping Paris Hilton in jail as totally worth it.”
--Conan O’Brian

Today I’m sending along a wonder-ful contribution from my friend Marcia Alexander:

I love wonder.  When I was a child, I lost myself in fairy tales and Greek and Norse myths.  Even today, stories that take me to new worlds make this world bigger and I dare to dream of new realities. 

My childhood had dark places and Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty opened wonder filled windows to places rampant with unexpected possibilities.  I have never understood the need to relegate wonder to childhood as though it belongs only to Disney and not to science, politics, anthropology, geology, theology, botany etc.
 
When I step outside my own skin and look at the skin of the world around me, I see green, i.e. the wonder of what is.  Green is everywhere, in plant leaves, in grass, in desert oases, in green thumbs that urge plants to grow.  Plant greenness tells me that the plant is successfully using sunlight to change water and carbon dioxide into food and releasing a little byproduct called oxygen. 

What a fundamental connection between humans and green things.  Isn't it incredible that in the world's vast deserts, the sign of life is the green oasis where a thirsty life form can find water and green food.  It is galling to realize that I take such wonders for granted. 

I am knitted into the very fabric of the earth and yet I try so hard to separate myself from earth's wonders.  It is ironic.  I spend my life trying  to figure myself out and yet, if I sat still for a moment and looked into the earth's mirror, I might find a clue to my humanity and my role in this web of wonder.

To be continued.