(Originally written September 19, 2005 in Book 1)
Can Man Live Without God?
Ravi Zacharias
1994
Chapter 8 - The Romance of Enchantment
Childhood search for meaning: the sense of wonder in a child is what fascinates us about children and it is what fascinates a child. It is wonder that draws a child to search for meaning.
A child accepts fairy tales for three reasons:
1) It contains a moral and the enchantment and wonder of the story makes us eager to see the moral behind it.
2) It contains a non-negotiable condition, i.e. 'you must be back by the stroke of 12'.
3) This is an interesting point, because it is never questioned (which is the third part of the fairy tale)
Meaning for a child is produced by his/her recognition of the awe inspiring reality that surrounds his/her life. A child then loses his sense of wonder and enters adolescence.
But gratitude comes from wonder and wonder is cognizant of God himself.
When we lose wonder we lose a lot of things. We lose gratitude; we lose part of meaning and we diminish aspects of life that make it worth living.
The older you get the more it takes to fill your heart with wonder. Only God is big enough to supply an endless stream of wonder.
God meets you where you are and restores the wonder in your heart. Then you can walk with Him in a new sense of awe and passion.
Nietzsche said he went looking for God and didn't find him. Thus, nihilism was born.
The search for wonder does not lead us to the pursuit of knowledge, happiness or of life's vices. It leads us to a relationship with Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment