Ravished with wonder...

I mentioned to you that I am reading The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp for my Advent meditations and so far, it's been a very good thing for me.  One phrase that has captured my attention comes from a quote from John Calvin.  

Every human being is "formed to be a spectator of the created world and given eyes that he might be led to its author...first to cast our eyes upon the very beautiful fabric of the world in which God wishes to be seen by us...As soon as we acknowledge God to be the supreme architect, who has erected the beauteous fabric of the universe, our minds must necessarily be ravished with wonder at His infinite goodness, wisdom and power.

The phrase "ravished with wonder" has captivated me.  I think about it now in lots of little things I see and feel and hear and smell.  Since I am a lover of nature, I am ravished with wonder at the chickadees, nuthatches, starlings and grouse that overwinter with us.  It's cold here.  Just 10* tonight and promises of colder days yet to come.  And they are here, happily visiting our feeders and living in the tree patches and hay stacks.

 Red-breasted Nuthatch from WikiCommons

Since the cold has returned, we've been building fires in our wood burning stove and I am ravished with wonder to watch the beautiful tongues of fire and to feel it's warmth as I stand with my cold backside to it.  In winter there is no better way of warming-up that is better than the warmth of a wood fire.

 

Walking in the biting wind with snow pelting my face as I close a gate in the pasture, I am ravished with wonder at the power and strength of the wind and the cold temperatures combined, and I am amazed at how quickly I get chilled, bundled up as I am, but our thick-hided Hereford cows and woolly sheep can tolerate this weather seemingly without a care.

 

Do you love the smells and tastes of Christmas as I do?  Are you ravished with wonder at the aromas of fresh-baked bread,  juniper branches, or the spices of star anise, cinnamon sticks, cloves and ginger?  I love those warm, earthy smells and flavors.  I like to put them in my pot of water on the wood stove and let their spicey goodness permeate the air, and I like to taste them in my hot lemonade and in cookies and cakes.  The pomegranates are in the grocery store now.  They are so delicious!  I am always taken by the beautiful red jewels that grow inside -- the sweet, juicy seeds that we love to eat this time of year.

I am ravished with wonder at the sounds of our youngest grandchildren learning to talk, saying the names of their siblings or saying, "Bye bye" and "Yeah" and "No!" and "Air compressor" and "Water tank" and "Bye Gammy!"  And I am blessed to hear the older grandchildren learning to read and love books.  It is a fine thing to have little people climb up into my lap with their favorite books who seem to be ravished with wonder as I read the same stories to them over and over again.  It's a joy, and an honor, and a blessing to me.

So I challenge you to be ravished with wonder this Advent season.  Go to the window, to your back door, go for a walk, look up at the stars, listen to a child and listen closely.  Breathe in the spices of the season, taste it, feel the cold of a snowy day or the warmth of a mug of hot tea.  Love is there.  It's a gift, just for you, from the God of Love.  He is the author of it.  Come, let us adore Him!