Wonder
Miriam Hogan, O.C.D.
It has been said that philosophy begins in wonder. Have you ever wondered what heaven might be like? Perhaps Fall seems to be an especially good time to ponder the mysteries of time and eternity. Especially, in this season so much happens before our eyes in such a short time. Just to give one example, the leaves with their magnificent change of colors invite us to ponder the beauty of the world around us and to give thanks for such beauty.
St. Therese who lived such a brief life (24 years) was keenly aware of the eternal entering into the present. Like a young philosopher she wrote: “I thought” …”I think about God, about life about ETERNITY …I think!” “The good religious [who asked her what she did on her free afternoons] laughed heartily at me, and later on she loved reminding me of the time when I thought, asking me if I was still thinking. I understand now that I was making mental prayer without knowing it and that God was already instructing me in secret.”
Hence, even as a very young woman Therese was drawn to prayer and it developed in her as natural as breathing. In her thoughts, she first kept God present and like a mature philosopher pondered the realities of life and death. Further, like a philosopher she was particularly passionate about seeking the truth. So much so, that she could say on her death bed: “Yes, it seems I never looked for anything but the truth; I have understood humility of heart. It seems that I am humble. Everything I have written on my desire for suffering is true! I do not regret having surrendered myself to Love. O no! I don’t regret it; just the opposite!”
Therese embraced all of life with both its joys and sufferings. I believe that she was able to do this because she kept an awareness of eternity before her and let it penetrate deep into her being and into her daily activities. In another place she states: “All the great truths of religion, the mysteries of eternity, plunged my soul into a state of joy not of this earth. I experienced already what God reserved for those who love Him (not with the eye but with the heart), (Romans 8:18) and seeing the eternal rewards had no proportion to life’s small sacrifices, I wanted to love, to love Jesus with a passion, giving Him a thousand proofs of my love while it was possible.”
Life is Like A Ship
Like a modern philosopher of Being, Therese understood the dynamic swiftness of life. She was especially fond of the analogy of a ship. “Life is like a ship that plows the restless waves and leaves after it no trace of its rapid passage. (Wisdom 5:10) When I think of these things, my soul is plunged into infinity, and it seems to me it already touches the eternal shore.”
Now, of course, Therese is a doctor of the church and doesn’t need us to point to her philosophical astuteness. Nevertheless, I find it a joy to be aware of her using her sense of wonder to pray and grow in her love for God and God’s love for her. Thus, with the help of her spirit, my prayer is to enter more deeply into the mysteries of the season and to wonder about how all this beauty fits into my daily life experience as it did into Therese’s.
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All quotes except those from Scripture, taken from Story of A Soul
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