We Are Wonderfully Made

At the Advent retreat I attended this past weekend, “Reclaiming a Sense of Wonder,” one of the questions Judy Valente invited us to consider was “What are the simple acts of ordinary life that fill me with wonder?”

This question brought to mind the many physical limitations being experienced by people around me: an elderly friend who has lost the use of her legs as death approaches, a community member who temporarily experienced difficulty swallowing after a stroke, a friend who has lost the sense of smell, and a woman at the assisted living center where my uncle resides who is so deaf I have to shout my answers to her questions. And yet, every day I walk and swallow and smell and hear without giving these wondrous acts a second thought.

How can we learn to appreciate the simple acts our bodies perform each day before we lose these abilities? Slowing down so we are fully present to what we are doing each moment is a helpful practice. Writing your own psalm of praise and then praying it regularly is another option. Here is one I wrote; what would yours look like?

We Are Wonderfully Made

All you who draw breath—

     parents and their progeny,

     teachers and students,

     farmers and city dwellers,

     the robust and infirm—

Praise God, for we are wonderfully made!

For eyelids that open and fingers that bend,

     Praise God O my eyes and my fingers!

With blood that flows and skin that shields,

     We are wonderfully made!

For muscles that contract and saliva that moistens,

     Praise God, O my limbs and my mouth!

With a heart that pumps and lungs that expand,

     We are wonderfully made!

Never cease to give praise,

     from waking to sleeping;

     whether breathing or talking or eating,

     give praise to the end of your days.

     Halleluiah!