The Wandering Wonder

The broken pieces are breaking the surface. Sharp, jagged pieces we always saw beneath the waters. Always the possibility of danger, always the hope for safety so long as we  watched our step. But now, they are rising with the waves, and we cannot avoid them. Even if we have not been cut by these pieces, they are in the waters now. The moving waters that we can no longer avoid.

Our world is hurting. Our world is breaking at the seams.

Shootings, terrorist attacks, wars, abuse, there is something new everyday. And too often what was breaking news yesterday fades into the background.... Yet what we may not see on our TVs, read in our newspapers, or find on our social media feeds, is that those people, those countries are still breaking... Even if it is not being recorded by the news.

It's overwhelming. It's heartbreaking. It's paralyzing.

These are but a few of the heart-wrenching emotions felt by onlookers, those of us in the crowd, so far away that all we can do is watch. I dare not claim to know or understand the pain of those actually experiencing it all first hand. My heart is not even brave enough to dare to.

But my heart is brave enough to to dare to do something in the midst of all this; I will not forget the Wandering Wonder of it all.

I will not forget the Wandering Wonder of this world I live in. 

There IS brokenness, growing like thorns; and there IS beauty, growing like roses. We all have a choice in how we see reality, was the rose captured by the thorns? Or perhaps, instead, did the rose overcome all the pain and become something beautiful? 

I choose the latter.

I choose to believe in the Wandering Wonder of it all. The wonder of a smile found on the face of a small child eating ice cream at the ballpark, and the wonder that wanders to other parts of the world too. Finding a smile on the face of a small child in Iraq, in a torn apart town, enjoying the sunshine and the joy of another day.

Wonder wanders.

It is seen in different places, at different times, for different reasons. But it still lives.

The wonder of a hot cup of tea on a cold night. The wonder of a sunset over the valleys of Burma. The wonder of deep-bred loyalty among friends in Sudan. The wonder of a helping hand among the deserts of Afghanistan. The wonder of a warm embrace in Syria.

I know I can't fix it all. I can't welcome the millions of refugees into my home and call them family, though I wish I could. I can't fight the battles they face. But there are other ways I can fight; I have a choice. I will not let the brokenness overwhelm me. I will not let the breaking news paralyze me.

I will not give up on this world, or the Wonder of a single life. The world is full of them, all the Wandering Wonders. All of us. These wonders that often wander from us, do not have to become lost to us.

The words have been written, these words have now been read. Now it's up to you; No one has taken away your voice to speak, your air to  breathe; your power to do something. Will you let the wonder be lost?

Or will you fight to believe in the beauty of this world with all it's brokenness, all its thorns?