The Art of Wonder

Instruction for Writers

“Notice the wonder in your life.”

Sarah Bessey, Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith

Predawn, I lay in the guest bed in my oldest son’s home and took in the view before me. Outside the large picture window, the shadowed landscape—a forest of eucalyptus and other native trees—rolled down the mountainside, silhouetted against a valley of twinkling city lights. Beyond spread a dark swath of the bay, banked by a layer of cotton-like fog. Pricks of starlight danced on a sable canvas overhead.

Peace enveloped me as I wondered at the gift offered by the weekend. Meaningful conversation with one of my adult children amid the beauty surrounding his home. As gratitude welled within, a meteor slashed the darkened sky, a streak of fading light its trailing tail.

My breath caught as wonder gave way to worship, as wonder is wont to do. Because, when allowed to do so, wonder points us to the author of its text. The author who, in the way of mystery, infuses our writing with revelation we cannot know or understand on our own, inviting us to partner in the art of wonder.

Although I don’t believe one eager for that partnership can evoke or conjure a sense of wonder, we can employ three practices that create fertile soil where wonder may sprout as we listen for the whispers of our co-creator.