I Wonder

I've had a lot of time to think lately. I've had a lot of time to ponder and wonder.

I wonder why adults always seem to frown and children always seem to smile.

I wonder why the Bible gives a global message of joy and peace while Christians dish out finite verses of oppression and guilt.

I wonder why we destroy beautiful soil to build ugly buildings.

I wonder why one year it's bad to tuck pants into boots and the next year it's bad to wear boots under pants.

I wonder why a career spent in a concert hall is considered less than a career spent in a cubicle.

I wonder why churches take up money in the name of Jesus to buy things that I doubt Jesus would promote in His name.

I wonder why these same churches are more concerned about what's going on inside a particular building than what's going on outside in the hearts of their community.

I wonder why people assume doing a good deed is the same as doing something good.

I wonder why four years spent learning to pencil-in bubbles is considered a better qualification than four years spent acting out what the bubble represents.

I wonder why people still consider two people living under the same roof "married" when they haven't shared in a meaningful conversation in years.

I wonder why women let themselves go after marraige.

I wonder at what point in life do people throw out the qualities of idealism, creativity, and undeserved joy.

I wonder at what point in life do people embrace the qualities of fatalism, despondency, and complaint.

I wonder why people from the U.S. feel the need to define "poor" from an economic standpoint.

I wonder why Christians feel unashamed to talk about "the poor people" in a country they've never visited.

I wonder why it's considered ok to indulge in a ridiculous amount of food at one time while abstaining from a ridiculous amount of alcohol at another.

I wonder why people associate pills and prescriptions with health.

I wonder if we even know what health is...what happiness is.

I wonder why worship isn't centered around communion or our schedules around worship.

I wonder why people focus on "shoulds and shouldn'ts" and "dos and don'ts" to correct behavior instead of on the reason that drives the behavior.

"We need a renaissance of wonder. We need to renew, in our hearts and in our souls, the deathless dream, the eternal poetry, the perennial sense that life is miracle and magic.” -E.M. Root