Not All Those Who Wonder…

JRR Tolkien’s poetic prophecy that Aragorn would return to be king in his famous Lord of the Rings trilogy included a line that has become a song and perhaps a motto for some, “Not all those who wander are lost.” Abraham and John the Baptist may have lived by this motto as they spent time wandering in the wildernesses of their lives under God’s direction. 

But our title concerns not wandering but wondering. The Psalmist spent time pondering and wondering over the marvelous universe God created (Psalm 19) and his natural body and the depths of God’s knowledge (Psalm 139). This type of wondering is akin to the word, marvel. The Psalmist was awe-struck by God’s majesty. There is another meaning of the word wonder, which is the subject of this post. To question or wonder how or why something is as it appears. 

Many times, this definition of wonder springs from the previous definition. Consider the magician’s illusion or card trick that caused you to marvel in amazement at first sight. Did you not question how the trick was preformed? In your wonder, you wondered how. In the case of the magician’s performance, the result of one’s wondering investigation many times leads to a lack of wonder in future performances because the observer knows the secret to the illusion or trick. However, many wonderers who investigate are all the more wondered because knowing the mechanics and seeing them in action is all the more marvelous. 

Scripture speaks of the “mystery” of the gospel, and Paul tells us to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). Is it not then a command from God that we wonder and wonder about our lives, the universe, and the mysteries surrounding us? 

Not all who wonder are faithless.