Wonder

My temple taps against the pane. I marvel at how the invisible can inflict such power on the physical.

I often feel contemplative on planes, especially on my way home.

Closing the gap between here and there, my mind is like a flip book flying through images and emotions of my recent past. It lands on a photo my husband sent while I was gone. When it popped up in my messages, it took my breath away.

My son’s expression is one of pure wonder.

I closed my eyes, and even though I was thousands of miles away, I could smell the grass, hear his voice, taste the unseasonably warm air and feel wonder.

His existence
Our existance
Our place in this world 
His thoughts
My thoughts

All of it
So big, so small, so impossible 
But there he was looking up at a spinner he’d just launched.

There is something magical in how these impossible moments catch us just when we need them. On that very day I came upon a quote by the philosopher Gilbert Keith Chesterton:

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

An already deep happiness at seeing this face I missed so much transformed by the power of wonder. I felt profoundly grateful.

And that’s what I’m contemplating up here beyond the birds and beneath the stars, suspended between the clouds and the lights; the power of wonder to connect us, ground us, and give us fresh perspective.