“How did our wonder switch flip to the off position? The answer is rather ironic. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the Enemy promised their eyes would be opened. . . . The reality? They became blind to all that is good and beautiful. Instead of retaining childlike wonder, they lost their innocence.”- Mark Batterson
“And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ “- Revelation 21:5 (ESV)
In Chapter 9 (“Life is Beautiful”), the final chapter of A Million Little Miracles, Mark Batterson talks about the last sermon preached by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Titled ‘Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution’, King delivered the sermon on March 31, 1968, in Washington, DC. During the sermon Dr. King highlighted something easily overlooked in the short story Rip Van Winkle.
America was an outpost of the British Empire and George III was the king of England when Rip Van Winkle fell asleep. But when Rip woke up, he saw a portrait of George Washington. The president of the newly formed United States of America.
Therefore, Mark sees Rip Van Winkle as an allegorical warning to people who sleep through their wild and precious life. Consequently, Mark counsels:
“Permission to speak frankly? We chuckle at the thought of someone sleeping through a revolution, but most people miss out on a million little miracles because they sleepwalk their way through life. Inattentional blindness gets the best of them. It’s time to wake up and live eyes wide open!”
Furthermore, Pastor Batterson describes the Bible as a wakeup call. Wake up to what? Wake up to wonder, beauty, mystery, a million little miracles.
In conclusion, Mark relates that Swiss psychologist Carl Jung had a phrase carved over the front door of his home. The phrase read: “Bidden or unbidden, God is present.”
Hence, Mark stresses, God is not simply present. God is omnipresent. So, only one thing is absent — awareness.
Today’s question: What Bible verses or hymns flip your wonder switch to the on position? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Look to the morning of creation”