-- Gerry Spence
Wonder-full things happen everyday. The challenge is in seeing them. We are so quick to judge, organize and categorize, that many of the wonderful occurrences in our lives are given short shift, and their eye-opening beauty and mystery is missed entirely.
You see, belief is extraneous. You are not required to believe anything, and you're probably better off if you believe nothing. Belief is merely a comforting device, a pacifier for the brain, a cognitive binky, that keeps us calm and docile. Instead of seeing life as it is (full of wonder!), we see it through the filter of our beliefs. We are quick to judge and slow to awe.
Furthermore, beliefs separate. They especially separate us from those who hold different beliefs, thus creating the illusion that this faux separateness is real. In cleaving to beliefs, we close our minds, not only to other people and ideas, but to the heart of mystery which is life itself. Beliefs murder mystery, assassinate wonder. And while they make us feel so certain and righteous, they also remove us from the world of open experience and direct response.
Watchfulness, attention is the key. As you go through your day keep an eye open for the times that belief arises to stamp out wonder, to obscure reality. I think you'll be amazed to find that even the sharpest of minds (like yours, of course) are mostly mired in belief and closed to wonder. We operate in the world on thought patterns of unconscious belief, both personal and societal. Nobody wonders about much anymore, we just don't have the time.
Perhaps it's time to change all that, to resurrect wonder to its rightful, preeminent status. Shed belief, embrace wonder! See the world anew. See what happens. They'll be a short quiz on Friday. Until then, may your life be wonder-full!
