You Are a Wonder
“Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’” —JOHN 18:37 (NRSV)
Do you sometimes feel like you’re swimming in the seas of ambiguity and contradiction? One minute the world makes sense and I know who I am and what I’m good at, and the next I’m questioning myself, my worth, my gifts. Is my problem or pain too much? Did I screw everything up? Am I a good enough parent, friend, partner, coworker? Should I have this figured out by now? Perhaps you have similar questions spinning around your mind.
I am beginning to think this is part of what it means to be human. One minute we are messy and stingy and irritable, but the next we can be absolutely radiant with beauty and wonder and generosity. We’re all of these things, yet sometimes it’s in the mirror of another’s perception that we can see the truth.
My friend, writer Kelly Corrigan, describes this work through the life of her dad (whom she affectionately calls “Greenie”). Greenie acted as a mirror to her friends growing up. He would say to them, “You are truly a wonder!” “Wow, you’re really amazing!” “You are the discovery of a lifetime!” Greenie died a few years ago, but Kelly’s friends still remember his words of encouragement with gratitude.
When we are overwhelmed with brokenness or sorrow, we need people to remind us that we are still good, and there is goodness in the world. That we can be forgiven. That it isn’t too late. That we are loved, loved, loved—not for what we do but for who we are. This act of mirroring reflects back to us the truth that we are becoming. We are still being made. In fact, creating and restoring is God’s specialty.
REFLECT
1. Who in your life acts as a mirror, reflecting the truth of your beauty and wonder back to you? How does being in their presence make you feel?
2. Practice seeing other people with awe and wonder today. For whom can you be a mirror?
RESPOND
In the busyness of our lives, we often forget that Jesus came to earth to remind us of our belovedness and restore us to wholeness. Make time today to soak up this truth like basking in the sunshine.
A Blessing for What’s True about You
When God thought you up, it was a good day, a lovely dream realized in God’s imagination, a celebration from before you were born. You were made out of God’s overflowing love, in who you were, and are, and would become. God saw it all, from way before the beginning, ‘til way past the end.
And saw that it was good.
This one, God said, this one I love. I delight in the beauty, and the promise, the wonder and the glory that is this one whom I have made.
And my gaze is ever upon them, constant, and warm like the sun at golden hour, gentle as starlight, transforming and continuing, calling forth all the growing, all the becoming that is to be done.
Remember this truth:
You were made
by love, for love, to love.
GOING DEEPER
Poet and artist Morgan Harper Nichols creates beauty out of the realities of our complicated truths. What she has learned from hearing people’s stories is that the truth may not be as certain as we hope. Learn more about Morgan’s work in this conversation between her and Kate, “Blessed are the Mirrors.” (This podcast is so rich you won’t regret listening to the whole thing, but if you don’t have time watch this 3 minute clip.)
Learn more about Kelly Corrigan’s dad Greenie. Listen to this clip of Kate and Kelly discussing Greenie’s great gift in “Here’s to the Happies” (4 minute clip). You can also read more about Kelly’s amazing dad in her book, The Middle Place.
“You are truly a wonder!”