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Some see a star from 2000 years ago. Some see others far deeper in space and time. But there is a closer star shining. You don\u2019t need to look into the night sky, you don\u2019t need a telescope.<\/p>\n
You just need to look into a child\u2019s eyes when they are lit with wonder. It is a light pure, radiant with the intensity of the unknowable.<\/p>\n
It rises from a deep well of mystery and magic. To see a child\u2019s face experience it is something to hold on to with a fierce grip. For time being what it is, a conqueror, this glow of wonder will in most people\u2019s lives be the passing stranger fading into the years. To feel it later takes, somewhat counterintuitively, a determination to shun the tentacles of the everyday world.<\/p>\n
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Few things are as wondrous as the joy of a child.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Photo: Supplied<\/cite><\/p>\n The Oxford defines wonder as \u201ca feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by something beautiful, remarkable, or unfamiliar\u201d. An example, \u201che observed the intricacy of the ironwork with the wonder of a child\u201d.<\/p>\n And wonder\u2019s companion is joy. They will both soon enter the homes of families who celebrate Christmas. If one can do the nigh impossible and shunt the commercialisation of Christmas into a locked room, and immerse oneself in counting blessings as like the stars in the sky, then the wonder of a child is transcendental.<\/p>\n If only the wonder of children could be harnessed, used as a power source. For if ever there were a time and place for wonder and joy, it is now. To quote the Beatles\u2019 A Day in the Life<\/em>, \u201cI read the news to day, oh boy …\u201d From Ukraine to Israel and Gaza, from the refugee camps and the millions of people displaced globally from conflict, there is pain and hardship and little wonder. This time of year, too, also accentuates loneliness. To evoke Tolstoy, \u201cHappy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.\u201d Similarly, with individuals.<\/p>\n Of course, there is good news and there is bad news. But overwhelmingly, the bad news has the numbers and shouts the loudest and lamentably the longest. Tears of sorrow flow wider than the tears of joy. Finding faith in people, then, is a tough ask. But it\u2019s there, like an eighth wonder of the world.<\/p>\n It\u2019s there when you see the wonder in a child\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n One of music\u2019s most spiritual songwriters is Bruce Cockburn. He wrote a song called World of Wonders.<\/p>\n An extract is: This then is the gift: having faith in the wonder.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoment of peace like brief Arctic bloom
Red-gold ripple of the sun going down
Line of black hills makes my bed
Sky full of love pulled over my head.\u201d<\/p>\nMost Viewed in National<\/h2>\n