Small Wonders

The Grand Canyon. Mount Kilimanjaro. The Fjords of Norway. The endless dunes of the Sahara. Our planet is filled with places that invoke a sense of awe; areas that are beautiful, majestic, and terrifying all at once. Humanity has felt awe since time began - however, awe has only recently been acknowledged by our contemporary world as an emotion. It's not just any emotion either - awe has been shown to enhance our well-being. Awe is good for us. Awe adjusts our perspective, and helps us get "outside" of ourselves. It puts us in our place, in relation to something bigger, something more wonderful. Awe can be anywhere. Awe can be anything. And the Christain scriptures tell us we can get close up and personal with the ultimate source of awe - the God of all creation - on a daily basis. What are we waiting for? "You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks And the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing." Psalm 65: 9-13 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s the challenging times of growth in the leaner months that create a tree's fingerprint, making it possible to find out the name of a shipwreck, reveal the identity, or uncover the truth of the history of a tree. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Walking feels good for us because it is good for us. It's not just a luxury, but a necessity for our well-being. This was never more apparent than during the lockdowns of 2020-2021. Walking is mundane but beneficial - both physically, but also for our connection to the world. No matter how momentary or trivial it may seem, bumping into someone on the street and talking to them does us a world of good. With societal loneliness at an all-time high, getting out for a walk is now more important than ever. Research is increasingly showing that walking helps improve strength, emotional well-being, and even memory. It's no surprise that the Christain scriptures hold walking as the greatest importance. Christians are encouraged to walk in the light, walk in the truth, and yield to God in every step of every walk. Because a walk with the Father is where the deepest connection, and truest health, can be found. "For You have delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living." Pslam 56:13 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we look at the city what do we see? Do we see busyness, progress, and exciting opportunities? Or do we look deeper, and think about the land underneath the glass, concrete, and metal forests we've built? Cities are transient - people ebb and flow into them like the tide. They also pose the question: what is it we're building with our own lives? Are they things lasting, or sandcastles that will topple with the next wave? And as we build our cities, how close are we to the life-giving water that nourishes us? "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of Lords: His love endures forever." Psalm 136: 1-3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all want to be productive. To write to-do lists. To clear the inbox. To get things done. We see productivity as critical to growth; if we can harness our productive potential then surely we'll grow richer, stronger, and healthier. But what if our obsession with productivity becomes ... unproductive? Have we forgotten how to let the mind wander? Have we forgotten how to dream? Greater awareness of oneself. Consolidation of memories. Moral reasoning. Planning for the future. These all come from daydreaming. Because after all, daydreaming is essential for the making of meaning. Music, art, books, and ideas all come from daydreaming. But these are again productive - and non-essential for valuing human life. The Christian scriptures encourage us to wonder about the big questions, and not to pursue mindless productivity. They appeal to us to imagine a safe life, flourishing under the protection of God's care. The scriptures invite us home, and show us how to live as we were made to; not mired in productivity, but marked by rest, hope, and goodness. "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths For his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" - Psalm 23 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"There is not one little blade of grass, there is no colour in this world that is not intended to make men rejoice." John Calvin Grass is found on every continent on Earth. Over 11,000 species of different grass exist. It's ever-present, but it's easy not to see it at all. How do we see the grass? Is it just a patch out the front of our home? Is it something that we walk on to get somewhere more important? How can it possibly bring us joy? Perhaps we need to see our own lives like that of a blade of grass. Fleeting, but beautiful nevertheless. Maybe we can be inspired by how a blade of grass lives; constantly drinking in light, growing more beautiful every day. The beauty of grass is made possible by the light. Without it, there is nothing. A blade of grass lives only a handful of days - but those days are spent in the light, which is freely available - as it is to us. What are we growing toward as we live our lives? Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The desire for the good life has never been stronger - and yet, the world and our bodies are surrounded by chemicals that are silently harming us. Medications can be poisonous. Sometimes, the cure is the cause of harm. How do we know if what we're pursuing is turning out for our good? We need to break the chains that prevent us from living a truly, healthy life - but to do that, we have to first acknowledge that those chains exist. Just like harmful chemicals in the air, our sin is all around us, and if we allow it, it can trap us. Are we willing to let God break the chains that can hold us down? When we admit the problem, then the remedy comes. Here's the confession, taken from the Book of Common Prayer that was read out in the episode "Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done, and there is no health in us. "But thou oh Lord have mercy on us miserable offenders. Spare thou those, Oh God, who confess their faults. Restore thou those who are penitent, according to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord, and grant, oh most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may hereafter live a Godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of thy Holy name." And from Psalm 51 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do we really know who we are? The human heart has two conditions: in and down, or out and up. In and down - seeking the self, or up and out - seeking God. Curves are everywhere - from trees to shells, clouds to hurricanes, and galaxies to black holes - curves are embedded in the universe. Even music follows the shape of a curve. Augustine talks about curves in his City of God. Martin Luther echoes his thoughts, describing the human condition as curved inward - toward the self. Inward curves are ruinous. Outward curves are life-giving. We're born in a curve - but do we know which way our curve grows? If we allow it, our curve can be remade, and refashioned, by the Holy Spirit. There's no end to the good that can come from such a curve. "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5: 15 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Bird watching isn't just about birds, it's also about those doing the watching ... in watching birds there seems to be a complete lack of idleness." Bird watching takes us to new places. Some watches might travel the world to see rare birds in faraway locations - "slow birders" might just look for birds in their own neighbourhood - but both will discover something new when observing these creatures. Even if we never see a bird in our watching, the act itself is calming, meditative, and a new way of seeing the world. We don't need expensive gear to watch birds - but we need time, and the willingness to sit, wait, and watch. Even Jesus urged us in the Sermon on the Mount to consider the birds. Bird-watching won't change the world - but it can change us. "Don't worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" - Matthew 6: 25-27 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Being able to discern the difference between light and dark is essential for reading. And, this sensitivity is also necessary for navigating our way through many things in daily life. In the first episode of Season 2, Laurel Moffatt explores the wonder of reading - a complex skill that we so commonly take for granted. Dwelling on Augustine - a man whose life was changed forever from reading one chapter of a book - she asks what would happen if we read outside in the light, and expose our ignorance. Learning to read might lead us to learn to live anew. "As I was . . . weeping in the bitter agony of my heart, suddenly I heard a voice from the nearby house chanting. . . saying and repeating over and over again “Pick up and read, pick up and read.” Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, 397-400 AD Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laurel Moffatt returns with Small Wonders - her short, thoughtful reflections on how a trust in Jesus colours how we see things in the world around us. Ahead of a new season, she ponders how, if we don't take the time to pause, we can misunderstand why things are happening the way they are. Things aren't always as they seem - sometimes when we expect to find pain and anguish, we instead find love and care. Matthew 11:28-30 is just one of many scriptures that echos this theme. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the final episode of season one, Laurel Moffatt drinks in the wonders of water in Zion National Park. The relentless river that flows through the park's centre has carved out a canyon of incredible beauty. But water can have sustaining as well as destructive effects. Laurel investigates the living water that makes an oasis flourish in the midst of heat that bakes the life from the surrounding landscape. Then she asks, what would it be like to have water like that inside of us, as we confront the sort of hard times that threaten to shrivel us to a husk? LINKS Christina Rossetti's A Better Resurrection I have no wit, no words, no tears; My heart within me like a stone Is numb'd too much for hopes or fears; Look right, look left, I dwell alone; I lift mine eyes, but dimm'd with grief No everlasting hills I see; My life is in the falling leaf: O Jesus, quicken me. My life is like a faded leaf, My harvest dwindled to a husk: Truly my life is void and brief And tedious in the barren dusk; My life is like a frozen thing, No bud nor greenness can I see: Yet rise it shall—the sap of Spring; O Jesus, rise in me. My life is like a broken bowl, A broken bowl that cannot hold One drop of water for my soul Or cordial in the searching cold; Cast in the fire the perish'd thing; Melt and remould it, till it be A royal cup for Him, my King: O Jesus, drink of me. Liu, Rui, et al. Investigating microclimate effects in an oasis-desert interaction zone, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 290 (2020): 107992 Living Water from the Zogoria province in Albania. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laurel Moffatt asks you to focus on what you find easiest to ignore. There are three layers of attention according to former Google strategist, James Williams: Spotlight - that which engages with immediate actions, like finding your socks Starlight - the layer of attention we give to longer-term goals, like getting a degree Daylight - the attention that enables a person to know why we have our long-term goals in the first place Laurel talks about what happens when we lose our 'daylight', that which helps us see all of our surroundings, ourselves, and our place in the world. LINKS Here's a link to T.S. Eliot's The Four Quartets, and lots more information about the author. If you'd like to read more on our diminished ability to pay attention, try Johann Hari's Stolen Focus. The next time you're in Santa Fe, check out the Georgia O’Keefe Museum. And here's a verse in the Bible to Jesus as daylight. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laurel Moffatt has been to the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde four times. I first ‘saw’ them when I was 16 years old. But not with my eyes. I saw them through reading Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House. An ancient civilization, preserved in stone. The evidence of ordinary, human lives of an ancient culture and the continuity with the past, layers of history held in stone. There have been times in Laurel's life, and maybe yours as well, when life has felt particularly hard. And in those moments, when the only options are difficult ones, the phrase that seems to suit best is being ‘between a rock and a hard place’. The usual response to difficulty and hardship seems to vacillate between two responses: either avoid it or muddle through in order to overcome it and hopefully get to the other side of it. This is why Laurel says, she's always been a bit perplexed by the habit of some Christians sending scripture verses describing God as a rock, as a message of encouragement. Who needs another rock when life is hard enough already? LINKS If you enjoyed this episode and you’d like to learn more, I hope these notes will be of help. You may enjoy Willa Cather’s novel, The Professor’s House, and the description of the land found in the second part of the book ‘Tom Outland’s Story’. Although it’s not as well-known as My Antonia, it is a gem of a book. Head over to the US National Park Service website to learn more about the history and landscape of Mesa Verde, as well as how to visit and stay nearby if it interests you. For links to the bible verses that I referred to in the episode: Psalm 18Psalm 143 While I was thinking about and writing this episode, I found this album of music: Beautiful Beyond: Christian Songs in Native Languages. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laurel Moffatt begins her quest for the benefits of doubt at the bottom of the Weddell Sea in Antarctica. There she discovers a search for a lost ship that demonstrates just how necessary uncertainty is to the inquiring mind. The exploration director stated that the Endurance was ‘the most unreachable wreck ever’. And yet, presumably, he had enough doubt about his certainty to be willing to venture out on an expedition that would take him to the ends of the earth. This is a bit like a questioning, curious faith in God. There are uncertainties in life, including the Christian life, and times of doubts and questioning, that can be used by the Creator to enrich faith in him, rather than counter it. LINKS If you’d like to read a bit further about the discovery of the Endurance you might enjoy this piece from the New York Times. Or perhaps you’d like to learn more about Ernest Shackleton and his original voyage. If so, this piece by the American Museum of Natural History may prove helpful. The Scientific American published a piece on the relationship between doubt and knowledge: “Why Doubt is Essential to Science”. While the shipwreck of the Endurance is protected as a historic site, questions remain regarding what happens now to the wreck and are addressed in this article in The Conversation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laurel Moffatt considers the universal nature of grief. Many are grieving these days: Illness. Loss of friends, lovers, and family members. The loss of time. The rumbles of war. The question is never whether grief will ever arrive in our life, the question is what to do with it when it does. Mary Delaney, who was born in 1700 to an upper-class family, was married unwillingly to an unkind man. Her life was emotionally fraught while her husband lived and financially strained once he died. Joy did follow, but even these latter blessings were tainted by still more suffering. Yet Mary learned that the best way to deal with grief is not to ignore it or push it away, but let it stay, give it room, let it speak for itself. And in so doing, she not only invented a whole new art form but discovered how God's grace can colour even the darkest times. LINKS More about Mary Delany An online collection of the Mary Delany’s flowers Molly Peacock, The Paper Garden: Mrs Delany [Begins her Life’s Work at 72] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the hinterland of Australia's largest island, Laurel Moffatt discovers engineers are hard at work planning a place to story the memory of all our environmental mistakes. The thinking is that our climate is no longer just changing, but headed for disaster. And if our planet's going to crash, survivors will need to know what happened and why, and hold any responsible parties to account. But what if this 'Black Box' recorder isn't big enough. After all, there are many more sins to account for than just greenhouse gases. The Black Box holds a tension between the acknowledgment of wrong-doing (repentance) with a desire to be made right (justice). But if justice and the judgment it carries is the only thing we have, would any of us survive? LINKS Australian Government, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Final report: Mount Lyell Remediation Research and Demonstration Program. Mount Lyell Remediation, Supervising Scientist Report. Tish Harrison Warren, We're All Sinner, and Accepting That Is Actually a Good Thing, The New York Times. Brad Plumer and Raymond Zhong, Climate Change Is Harming the Planet Faster Than We Can Adapt, U.N. Warns, The New York Times. Romans 3:25, the 'mercy seat' reference. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rustic. Refined. Cutesy. Elegant. Modern. Traditional. No matter your tastes, there’s a place to suit you in today's online rental market. What you probably don't go looking for, though, is a person who comes with dream destination. Laurel Moffatt examines the boom in the short-term rental economy which has had a perverse effect on the life of the modern city. Even though we travel to more interesting locations, the sector has disrupted or further disintegrated social connections, particularly when a city has a high volume of listings. The antidote to the problem of loneliness, though, is not medication, but human connection. Forget artfully arranged towels and bowls of fresh lemons on the bench. Connection with others and the gift of one another’s presence is the truly beautiful thing. LINKS More numbers about the worth of the sharing economy. “The Airbnb Effect on Housing and Rent,” Forbes, Feb 21, 2020. Vivek, Murthy, M.D. Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World. But perhaps you’d rather visit Jerry’s Lakehouse than read these articles? If so, follow the link to the listing for his place on Airbnb. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How is it that significant moments in your childhood can sit so close to people and places you'd rather forget? Laurel Moffatt says that people who say they don't believe in ghosts never met her grandmother. She is haunted by the memory of a woman who actively destroyed everything around her. But the set of instructions she taught Laurel for washing her hands has taken on extreme significance in the face of an international pandemic, and her need to find a way to forgive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laurel Moffatt takes a trip down to the mighty Mississippi River. There, she discovers something that demands respect. What else do you owe a thing that can both divide a continent and bring you directly into its heart? That can both float a ship and sink it? But it is also a place to contemplate our efforts to control the world around us. Here, we realise that something is lost when we bring the wilderness to heel, putting it behind barriers or up on a wall as a testimony to our own strength. Rivers have a way of reminding us that not everything can be so easily subdued. And God has a way of reminding us that He is the one who does the subduing. LINKS Required reading: AtchafalayaNew Yorker.The following articles are also helpful for learning about how levees work, specifically the levees along the Mississippi River: The AtlanticWhat We've Done to the Mississippi River: An ExplainerNational Public RadioLevees Make Mississippi River Floods Worse, But We Keep Building ThemScientific AmericanThe Problem With LeveesHere’s Amazon’s announcement about the opening of its robotic fulfilment centre in Baton Rouge, and check this out for how this relates to the demolition of the old mall. And, for the reference to the hem of God’s robe filling the temple in Isaiah 6:1-2. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.