Wonder is available to all of us in any moment. It is something we have all experienced and with a little effort we can experience it again. Even if you have had a lot of suffering in your life, wonder belongs to you as much as anyone, and the starting block is to connect with a moment or a memory of wonder. Are you ready to give it a try? Starting with a deep breath to the bottom of your lungs. Can you connect with that early sense of wonder, a moment from childhood? Maybe you recall climbing a tree to try to touch the sky, looking at the stars and wondering how far away they are; watching a ladybird as it scales a blade of grass or stepping on the ice of a puddle to feel it crunch.
This precious childhood wonder is so easily lost as we grow and learn and mature and experience suffering. Yet we have a choice. In the here and now we have a choice to greet each moment, every living being, every encounter with wonder. Doing this is no less than an act of Revolutionary Love. Why? Because to meet the world with wonder, whoever, however, whatever crosses our path expands our circle of care beyond the implicit bias of safety in sameness. We are training our eye to see no stranger, instead meeting all others as equal and leaving no one behind by their difference to us. This is the wonder of oneness, the knowledge that every being is a part of me that I don’t yet know. Oneness is central to all the ancient spiritual wisdom traditions: GuruNanak called us to see no stranger, Buddha invited us to practise unending compassion, Abraham to open our tent to all, Jesus to love our neighbour, Mohammed to take in the orphan, Mirabai to love without limit….all expanding the circle of who counts ‘as one of us’, and therefore who is worthy of our care and concern. This is an ancient call to love, across all wisdom traditions, because this wondering about another person gives us information for how to love them….and THIS is Revolutionary Love. This week I'd like to offer a voice recording.....but I need to work out the tech first! Its a short meditation on wonder, reconnecting with childhood wonder and bringing it into your present experience. Its less than 10 minutes, so please click on the link below and take the time for yourself....
And…if you want to know more about Revolutionary Love, look up Valerie Kaur. She is passionate about this as a way of being! https://valariekaur.com/revolutionary-love-project/