Welcome to Pushing Pause! A bi-weekly newsletter offering you an invitation to push pause and explore faith, rest, and beauty in the every day moments of life. Sign up below to have this newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Beside my desk I have a picture of my daughter from about 5 years ago when she was the age of 6. In the photo she's at the edge of the ocean looking with wonder at the waves as her feet leave the earth in a jump of happiness. I remember this moment and a dozen others like it where I marveled at the pureness of her joy. She’s always loved the ocean and as a small child she was content to spend hours at the water’s edge splashing and dancing through the waves inching further and further into the surf until I called her back. I watched with my own wonder at her delight, wanting to mark the moment and savor it for a lifetime.
Last month as I met with my spiritual director she encouraged me to look at this season with joy and lightness and she used the phrase, “summer of wonder”. In the weeks that followed I rolled that phrase over and over in my mind and off my tongue wondering what a summer of wonder would look like for me and how I might embody that phrase. I wasn’t sure exactly but it gave me a spark of joy just to think about it.
That picture of my daughter is the image I return to when I think of “a summer of wonder”. It’s joy, freedom, carefree, light, beautiful, in the moment. These are the things I need to cultivate more intentionally in my own life. I want to wonder at the delights of the season like my daughter on that beach.
The recent ongoing events in our weary world often push me away from wonder and more towards grief. Rightfully so of course! There’s a need for lament and tears that leads to action and change. I think we need to sit with, wrestle with and ask hard questions of these feelings. I also know that it’s all too easy to get stuck there and move into a state of despair that doesn’t serve anyone well. Between weapons, wars, weeping, and all the wounding, we need wonder too. I need to confront the darkness but not be swallowed whole by it. I need to look the pain in the eye but not let it consume me. I need wonder and beauty to remind me that tragedies aren’t the whole story.
Jesus said in the Gospel of Mark, “Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” (Mark 10:15 MSG). I can’t derive all the meaning of what that verse was intended to say but I do think perhaps it’s a call to embrace wonder like a child a little more. To let the questions sit without demanding answers. To look at the goodness of the world and be amazed. To rest in the love of God without worry of right theology, and in turn, to delight in welcoming others into that rest and love as well.
Wonder is in many ways an abandonment of control or explanation. It’s letting yourself be surprised and astonished. It’s about letting your attention be captured and leaning into the mystery and making space for joy. This is my practice of the season…a summer of wonder. You too?
Where will wonder meet us this summer? We can cultivate a practice of making space for more wonder, not to control it but to make ourselves more inclined to notice it and embrace it. We can slow our schedules, say “yes” in spontaneous ways, set down our phones, invite others in, pause to notice, choose things that bring us joy, etc. May the wonder of the season delight and surprise us!
A Resource
While I want to be an easy breezy summer girl, my natural tendencies lean toward having a plan and needing a little bit of structure and rhythms to sustain me. I don’t think that’s in opposition to wonder. For me, doing some intentional reflection and planning helps me feel more open and free because I’ve taken time to decide what matters. If you relate, here’s a simple summer resource for you that you can download, print and use with the practice below to keep nearby to serve as a reminder for your own summer of wonder.
A Practice
You can use the summer planning page I shared above or just take some time to think about how you can embrace a summer of wonder this season.
What does a summer of wonder mean to you? How might you define it or describe it?
What are your priorities this season? What are the things that need your time and attention or that you want to pursue?
What are the delights and joys you want to make space for this season? Cookouts with friends? Hikes as a family? Reading more? A vacation? Think through the simple joys that would add wonder along with the bigger items.
What weekly rhythms will help you stay open to wonder? A practice of Sabbath? Saturday pool days? No screens 1 day a week? Meal prepping simple meals so you spend less time in the kitchen? A daily walk? Just thinking through and naming a few rhythms may give you some simple scaffolding to stay open and intentional in embracing a summer of wonder.
I hope you have a summer full of wonder and delight! I’d love to hear about it. You can leave a comment here or hit reply in your email. Thanks for reading. - Lindsay
I needed this reminder and perspective! Thank you!