Years ago I decided to take a course on Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, I know, very mainstream. As I sat in a small class room with people who were a minimum twenty years older than me a whole new world opened up to me. Yes my classmates were older and wiser than me, yet, we were bonded by our love of music, myth, and opera. I was immersed in the brilliance and history of Wagner’s arguably greatest work. At the same time I was reading two different books The Eternal Woman by Gertrud von Le Fort and The Search for God by C.S. Lewis, which both referenced this opera by Wagner. A coincidence one might say, but I couldn’t see it that way. In fact it made me think, the more we expand our minds, hearts and experiences the more connected we are to one another. The more we can relate and see one another. We can only begin this great task when we know objective truth, if everything is relative nothing means anything.
So we see in our society a loss of wonder, because we have lost the light of objective truth to see our surroundings. More and more you see careers becoming extremely specialized and with that, the loss of common sense, original thought, and problem solving abilities. Communities are becoming more and more narrowed by lifestyle, jobs, or vocation. Instead of as they used to be, by a variety of personalities, ages, circumstances, and backgrounds. As a result isolation is felt even among the people in those communities. Because no differing thoughts, wisdom, or experiences are being offered. Like the wicked witch in Snow White we almost become obsessed with asking the mirror of our own realities to confirm we are the fairest of them all, and can’t stand the idea that our own narrow perception of that reality could be challenged. So quickly our hearts grow cold to outsiders and soon even within our own groups, because we are not challenging ourselves. We pamper our pride and neglect our wonder. We fail to see the potential of one another because we are not developing it within ourselves.
The most interesting and compassionate people in my experience, are those who have a variety of tastes, in literature, athletics, history, biology, music, art, etc. The person who is able to best embrace and see another person’s heart and point of view is the person whose own heart and point of view is passionately open to wonder. In fact, the closer we are to objective truth, the greater our wonder and desire to see the grandeur of God in every aspect of His creation. In the light of Christ, the world becomes a glorious place of wonder and in the variety we begin to see we are all connected by our Creator. As G. K. Chesterton says “The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only want of wonder.” If we see the individuality of each other, not as a threat, but an opportunity. We will no longer fear new challenges, knowledge or experiences, because Christ has come; objective truth is our compass, and the world is a land of adventure. The more diverse our tastes are, the more we are open to connect and open our hearts to a variety of people, and thus become more Christlike.
