Worship and Evangelization / Erin Jeffries
Rediscovering wonder through the eyes of faith
If you ever need to hear how immensely precious you are, read Psalm 139. Just ponder for a moment the image—the reality—of someone who knows you so thoroughly and loves you so completely and unreservedly.
We live in a society that has largely lost its sense of wonder at the unrepeatable beauty and unique gifts of each person. And yet, this is the root of our dignity, of our identity and the foundation for how we are to love and respond to one another. Each person is created out of love—a child of God destined for heaven. Now that is something to wonder at!
Wonder is rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one’s experience. I think the key is that word “mystery.” A mystery, far from being some dark and sinister thing, simply means that there are things we cannot fully understand and so we cannot fully explain, which includes ourselves.
The mother of a little girl who has Down syndrome put it beautifully: a child is “like a gift that you carefully open over time and allow him or her to reveal themselves.” In this way, wonder respects the mysterious reality, not trying to fit it into an understandable box, or needing to have all the answers.
Once we begin to do this, there is one thing we can be sure of: prepare to be surprised! Those around us will do and say things we could never predict—no matter how long or well we know him or her.
My mom shared a great example recently. She and my dad awoke one morning to find that my sister (an adult who has physical and intellectual/developmental disabilities) had made herself cozy on the couch, with a blanket and a fresh Coke, and for the first time, had used the remote to turn on the TV.
Each of us needs support. We need each other, we need the community of the Church and above all we need the sacraments if we are to journey along the path to holiness and develop to our fullest potential spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, morally and physically. And our bishops urge us not to overlook the contribution of individuals who have disabilities, reminding us that “… out of their experience they forge virtues like courage, patience, perseverance, compassion and sensitivity,” which can be a model and encouragement for anyone. (U.S. Bishops’ Pastoral Statement on Persons with Disabilities, #13).
How many times have we heard stories of someone “beating the odds” or achieving something against all expectation? I wonder sometimes if our expectations are too low.
Perhaps we are too bound to the definitions, to what we see on the surface, to a diagnosis, and have forgotten that the person before us is in many respects an unknown with their own gifts and potential to be revealed and developed. In this case, our work becomes to learn, to nurture, and finally to simply gaze in wonder at what flowers.
(Erin Jeffries is archdiocesan Coordinator of Ministry to Persons with Special Needs and can be reached at ejeffries@archindy.org or 800-382-9836, ext. 1448, or 317‑236-1448.) †