Thing #29. Live in awe.

The world is a wonderful place. Amazing, astounding, awe-inspiring. But it is possible to lose sight of that when life gets tough. When humanity expresses its ugly side, when men and women are hateful and cruel. Especially at those times, we need to be very intentional about seeing the wonder all around us.

One thing you could do is select a particular something that inspires you and collect all kinds of info on that thing. Then you can call those things to mind when you need to reroute your train of thought.

Maybe you’re inspired by flowers. Or mountains. Or broccoli. Okay, maybe not broccoli.

But how about elephants?

Yes, I have a fondness for the grand beast known as elephantidae.

Did you know--

• Calves rely on their mothers for as long as three years.
• Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild.
• They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound. Elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances.

And they’re adorable when they sneeze: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtIz1u8g1F0

Elephants--

•          can play piano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjsu3SGAdLs
•          can be trained to draw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZxSPSWxwjI
•          can form genuine, lifelong friendships. Watch this story. If you want a single awe-inspiring image, go to 6:54. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF8em4uPdCg

By noticing little snippets about elephants here and there, I have increased my sense of wonder about these grand beasts and their Creator. It’s like collecting tea cups or bookmarks, only I’m collecting information, facts that increase my sense of awe for our planet.

So try it. Try to live with a sense of awe about creation, and the magnificent God behind it all.