"The Prophetic Voice Cries: Wonder!"
Jane Cavanaugh
Sunday, December 19th 2004

“To all God’s beloved at St. Joan of Arc Who are called to be saints Grace to you And peace from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ”.

Later during the service, you’ll hear that’s how the apostle Paul begins his letter to the Romans 2000 years later, I begin my reflection on “Wonder” with the same blessing for you.

Last March, my husband Joe and I were invited by Joe’s old high school friend to spend a week with him and his family in his ski chalet in the Swiss Alps. (I’m so glad Joe was nice to him in high school.) We arrived at night.

The following morning we woke up under a fluffy Swiss comforter and decided to spend our first day hiking. Unfortunately, it was overcast. We followed a walking path up quite a ways to a rest stop with a bench and a sign which said OVERLOOK. Through the fog we could see there was a little creek flowing by about 20 feet away. A quaint Swiss house tucked away in the hill a few paces beyond. Down the hill a ways, we could make out a few goats walking around,

HIGH ON A HILL THERE’S A LONELY GOAT HERD

LADEE ODLAEE ODLAY HEE HOO

The second day, we woke up early to a beautiful clear blue sky. “Let’s take a quick walk before we ski.” We power-walked the same path till we got to the same little bench and the OVERLOOK sign. But that day, we were breathless – and not because of the steep climb – but because before us was an amazing panorama of humongous, glorious, breathtaking ALPS as far as the eye could see.

The day before, because of the fog, we had no idea what we were in the midst of- we only saw the things right before our eyes. Talk about OVER LOOK. Boy did we ever overlook what was actually there.

The second day, we saw the big picture- the majesty, the grandeur of which we were a part. We were bowled over by the immensity of God’s beauty and the “wonder” of nature.

I thought: this is like God’s plan for me. Some days, I am unaware of you, God, even though you are right there in my life in all your power and all your available grace. Some days, many days, I can’t see you. I just “do” my life. I see the goats and the creek and the signs directly in front of me and I “overlook” you, forgetting that I am a part of a plan so glorious and vast.

This past year, I graduated from St. Catherine’s with a graduate degree in theology. On Thursdays, I am one of the spiritual directors at City House.

We have an advertising slogan there: “God has a plan for you. And it isn’t that puny little plan you’re working from right now.”

And I think it’s true. Most of us have plans for our lives that are too small.

I was shopping for a Christmas present for my 7 year-old nephew, Luke and I came across this – a Hoberman’s sphere which struck me as the perfect symbol for this talk.

For many of us, God works in our lives in this capacity (small sphere).

The way God wants to act in our lives is on this level (big sphere) In a big way.

T o do things in our lives that are full of wonder, wonder-full, awe-inspiring, illogical.

Puny plan – (small sphere).
God’s plan – (big sphere).
Seeing the goats and creek – (small sphere).
Seeing the Alps – (big sphere).

You’ll hear about puny plan people in the readings today: St. Joseph from Matthew’s gospel reading. Listen to how small his plan was…

“Oh no, my fiancée is pregnant, I’ll break off the engagement quietly, go back to being a bachelor again I’ll eventually find some other teenager in town to marry, settle down and grow my carpenter business. Puny plan.

God’s plan: Marry the pregnant fiancée, be venerated as one of the greatest saints of all time for millennium, have a divine son who will change the course of history.

Frederick Buechner, the author of the reading, is talking about our human tendency to believe in the puny plan, rather than God’s abundant plan – to see the goats and the creek and to miss the ALPS.

• He says WAKE UP: “There is a treasure buried in our own backyard, rich enough to buy Texas.” And we don’t know it – until we stub our toe on it.
• We’re content to have a God that’s “fair” But he doesn’t think most of us grasp the concept that God is absurdly generous.
• We say “Lately, I don’t really feel God working in my life” The kingdom of God in our lives is no bigger than the eye of a newt.
• Are we ready to have God move in and make major waves and do extraordinary things through us? Mind-boggling things? Birds singing Mozart in all our fabulous branches?

God loves to mess with us, do unexpected things, Bueckner says “do impossible things with impossible people.”

Sometimes we are so rational, so reasonable and realistic that we forget that God’s favorite medium is miracles – the essence of Advent and Christmas – How can God become human?

God loves taking what we feel is impossible ... And proving us wrong.

American Heritage Dictionary says: Wonder is something that arouses awe, astonishment, surprise, or admiration; a marvel – an event inexplicable by the laws of nature a miracle.

This talk on “wonder” is actually quite easy for me today. Let me tell you why.

If you were here at church two years ago about this time, you heard, in my talk, how my husband Joe proposed to me – skating on my birthday on Rockefeller Plaza. Today I’ll continue our story – Part II.

The last two years of our marriage have been years of joy, travel, laughter and hope. Both of us work at Youth Frontiers. We’re around kids every day. We were hoping that we could have kids of our own. And that was not happening.

We joined many other couples who were having trouble getting pregnant Countless doctor visits, blood draws, shots and injections, always negative. With time, I’d get depressed just driving up to the medical building. I could feel my soul drain out of my body every time I came near it.

Finally, our fourth fertility doctor sat us down: “You are both in your 40’s. I have done everything I can for you here. You only have a 2% chance of conceiving.”

So we shut that door.

And then God pulled one of those Abraham/Sarah jokes on us. We got pregnant. Our own bona-fide wonder-ful miracle. It is overwhelming being inside of a miracle. I can’t help thinking: Why has this happened to me? With so many other couples trying – why Joe and me? And I hear God saying: Surprise… and wonder.

So the term “Wonder” to me these days, is Little 2% – who, by God’s grace and many people’s prayers, beat the odds.

If Little 2% makes it through these nine months and we see that little face in July, she or he will always remind Joe and me that “With God, all things are possible.”

Where is God in the impossible places in your life?

• “I’m still single and I’m giving up that there’s anyone out there for me. It’s getting too late. Anybody I’d like is already taken or doesn’t exist.”
• “I don’t have a great relationship with my daughter. I don’t even know how to talk with her anymore. I don’t see it getting any better.”
• “I don’t like my job anymore. But there’s no way I can leave it. I don’t know what else I’d do. I guess I’ll keep plugging away.”
• “I’m 76, retired and … tired. I just don’t feel like I make a difference anymore. Mostly, I just want to sleep.”
• “I’m in 8th grade and I hate it. Everybody seems to have friends except for me. People think I’m weird. I’ll guess I’ll get used to being alone.”

To end, I’m going to ask you to close your eyes for a few moments and picture in your mind this scene:

Imagine yourself standing in a small dark empty closet.

Think of a situation in your life where you are running out of hope A relationship you’re struggling with? Something going on at work? Someone you love who is suffering? Is it the situation in our church?

If this involves a person, Picture the person standing in the closet with you If this does not involve a person, choose a symbol of this issue and hold it in your hand in the closet.

Keeping in mind that you have very little hope for this situation, What do you see as the future of this issue? This place is called YOUR PLAN

Now, imagine yourself choosing to leave this space... By opening the door ahead of you ... Put your hand on the door and push it open... Take your object or person with you out the door... And step out into the light.

In front of you, you see a bench and a sign that says OVERLOOK. Sit on the bench with your object or the person with you. Before you is the most beautiful vista you can imagine . What is it? Do you see mountains? Trees? Maybe you see the ocean or a beautiful lake? It is vast, perfect, breathtaking.

This place is called GOD’S PLAN. And you know somehow God is there. You ask God: What is YOUR plan for me and this person or situation? How can I see it differently?

Something happens to that object in your hand – What? The person next to you – What happens between the two of you?

With God fully in the equation, what other wonder-full possibilities could evolve?

This Advent, the season of Emmanuel, God with us, the season of miracles, and unlikely, illogical, wonder-filled things happening. May you take time to ask God in prayer to help you let go of your plan which may be too small, too limited, too reasonable and to embrace the plan God has in store for you.

May you find the courage to take the first steps to create the kind of life God has planned for you and to create the kind of world God has in mind for us all.

STAR OF WONDER,
STAR OF NIGHT
STAR WITH ROYAL BEAUTY BRIGHT
WESTWARD LEADING,
STILL PROCEEDING
GUIDE US TO THY PERFECT LIGHT