Advent 15 - The Wellness of Wonder
By Richard Porter
Growing up in Illinois, when I was five, my little fingers tore open my favourite Christmas gift. There it was: a farm set complete with a barn, animals, and a tractor – every child’s dream before the computer revolution! Filled with wonder, my imagination ran as wild as the animals I played with.
Yee-haw! I loved it.
Unfortunately, my mother wasn’t pleased with my management skills. My farm claimed fresh territory every day. She’d find a cow under the kitchen table, a goose in the bathtub, or a horse galloping across the living room carpet. The rest of the livestock grazed or slept on my bedroom floor – oops!
Like most parents, my mother would coax me to gather it all up and keep it confined in one place, but I couldn’t relate to that. So, one day, in exasperation, she pulled out a tube of glue, held it up in front of my little face, and said, ‘Come on, Richard, we have work to do.’
She led me to the scene of the stampede and began gluing each animal onto a green board.
‘Now, where do you want this little chicken?’ I reluctantly pointed to a spot.
‘And the tractor?’ Again, I chose a place.
Eventually, it was all done. Boy, was it tidy and in order.
The next day, I tried to free my little friends, but they wouldn’t budge. I never played with that farm set again. How could I? It just sat there in the corner of my room, gathering dust. The wonder was gone.
Isn’t this often the pattern? Christmas traditions can become so tidy and ordered – so glued down – that the voice of an angel or the joy of running to meet with God can be lost on us.
The carols, the presents, the routines – each year, the season can be swallowed up in repetition, until all we have is a shrine gathering dust in the corner of our heart and mind.
Looking back, I realize how easily wonder can slip away – not just from childhood toys, but from the things that matter most. Yet childlike awe is more than nostalgia; it’s essential to our mental and spiritual wellbeing.
When we allow ourselves to experience awe – whether the beauty of God’s creation, or the mystery of the Incarnation, or even the gift of another year – something shifts inside us. Awe breaks through our world-weary customs and soothes our anxieties, reminding us that we are small, but deeply loved, and part of a story bigger than ourselves.
This is why awe is healing: it puts everything in perspective. Problems become small, God becomes big as we welcome his presence back into our lives. This is where we are renewed, comforted, and reawakened to hope.
This Christmas, why not reclaim some of that childhood wonder? Unglue the precious gift God so freely gave us that first Christmas night. Let him guide our imagination – look up and see the angels, listen again to their message, open the craggy wooden door of the stable.
Step inside. Breathe in the smoky air. Adjust to the flickering light. Move past the animals, hear their brays, see the sheep kneeling in the corner. Then, as you draw close, gaze into the manger – and, with awe and wonder… Behold the face of God.
Psalm 66:5
‘Come and see what God has done,
his awesome deeds for mankind!’
The Adventure Driven Life
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