I’m far too cynical. This is somewhat a result of my nature, but in the past two years or so I’ve seen my cynicism grow. There have been times when this has been checked, and went dormant for a while, but it would eventually come back. There used to be a time when I was a lot more idealistic, and a bit of a dreamer. This would cause me to marvel at life. I would get lost in nature (literally and metaphorically) and see God’s beauty and creativity. I would rejoice at stories of life being given—whether it be a birth, or the selfless acts of someone towards someone else, or…etc. And sure, those things still get to me. On a good day. If I search hard enough. They certainly don’t spring up in everyday occurrences like they did before. The problem is, I still talk as if I was astonished each and every day. I wasn’t intentionally lying. I just didn’t realize that I hadn’t been lost in astonishment and awe quite like I used to be. This is because it’s a subtle movement, where I haven’t lost all astonishment. Just enough over a period of time to not notice it.

John Walton offered this corrective in Proposition (=chapter) 17 of “The Lost World of Genesis One:”

“We have lost the view that nature does not operate independently from God. he is still creating with each baby that is born, with each plant that grows, with each cell that divides, with each nebula that forms. We might find it easy to look at some majestic view like a glorious sunset or the grandeur of the mountains and ponder the magnificence of God’s handiwork. But this sense needs to extend beyond the ‘wow’ moments to encompass all of our experience of his world. We have the same problem when we only recognize God in some incredible occurrence in our lives and forget that he provides for us, cares for us and protects us moment by moment, day after day. God did not just create at some time in the past; he is the Creator—past, present, and future.”

By the way, I’m working on the cynicism thing. It’s choked out a lot of joy in the past few months and needs to be put to death.