Third Day of Christmas: Wonder of the World

Thursday night, Dad's oldest brother, my uncle Tony, came with his wife and two sons. My uncle is a Lieutenant Colonel, and has just finished serving a whole year in Iraq. He worked side by side with General Petraeus and several other great leaders. I love and respect him so much, we sat down in our backroom and listened to him tell us stories - meeting the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, among many people. The Deputy Prime Minister gave my uncle a plaque with the historical winged Iraq, and my uncle gave the plaque to my sister (who is his god-daughter).

My uncle has traveled everywhere - India, Thailand, Germany, Italy, Spain... Japan... Iraq. He has a story for every place he has been, a wealth of wisdom from those years of experience.

Listening to him talk gives more perspective than any geography course can. It is so hard for us to believe that we are not the centre of the universe, other countries exist, other cultures. We are not the only ones. And sometimes we need an eye-opened for us to realize that.


This is another wonder - a wonder of the world. Something we will never comprehend. So large, so encompassing, filled with a variety of people. Think: the Spanish-speaking Mexican wakes up to make tortillas, while in another part of the world, a Spanish-speaking Spaniard is getting ready for sleep. In one part of the world, they could be speaking a language that has never been written down, never been named. It is amazing.

When we understand a little bit of this wonder, we can see past our small lives and see them in the scope of not just the world, but the universe.


As Charles Williams wonderfully put it.

"Damn and blast! Why was this bloody world created?"

"As a sewer for the stars. Alternatively, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

- War In Heaven