Stuff of Wonder from Something of Earth ...

It has been a joy to become involved with blogging and all the cyberworld traveling that goes along with it. Today, as I post my first message on Blogspot, I feel much like a person who has moved into a new neighborhood in the same big city. For a short while I made a home for myself at Xanga, but the housing codes set forth by that community board disallowed any personal decoration without first lining their pockets with a small fee (they wouldn't let me post pictures for free), so I followed some of my friends over to Blogspot, where there is a much freer attitude toward adorning one's blog with images of special significance. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, and perhaps this will be the only relief to those who might wander into my blog and realize, very soon off the bat, that I am notoriously long-winded. If there is any way to communicate a 1000-words worth of something, best it be a picture rather than a lengthy paragraph.
I look forward to posting both words and pictures, and I hope that any who follow my move from Xanga to here will enjoy what I have to say about whatever. I suppose a warning is in order for this maiden post: it must be mentioned that I have a tendency to look "too much" on the bright side of things. I have known some who find it rather odd that I search painstakingly for the wonderful within even the most tragic. Call it naive. Call it unwilling to accept reality. Call it "just plain stupid." However, as I see it, there is so little appreciation for the wonders of God these days, even by devout people. I feel it incumbent upon me, for the purpose of this blog as well as for the sake of my life, to hold fast to the glory even amidst the gloom, the beauty amidst the broken. Deep down, I feel that even in our gloom and our brokenness there is wonder coursing through the veins. After all, death is not tragic just because it brings loss and pain, but because our ability to view wonder in another person/thing is significantly dwindled - all that is left is memory.
So, while I live, let me seek the wonder in all things, for as long as I can. Maybe I am practicing for eternity. Perhaps I'm getting pretty good at it ...

"I asked for wonder, and he gave it to me." - Rabbi Abraham Heschel


Me