Wonder

“…the earth is filled with the goodness of the Lord.” -Ps. 33:5

Consider the lowly cabbage. It never has gotten much respect in life. To be called a ‘cabbage head’ is definitely not a compliment. I have seen statistics and documentation dismissed as just ‘so much cabbage.’ The cabbage has not even made “Veggie Tales” status, to my knowledge. Yet I learned in 7th grade science class the other day that the juice of cabbage leaves possesses a unique power unknown to any other plant or vegetable. Filter paper soaked in cabbage juice and then dried can be used to distinguish between acids and bases. Simply watch for a color change when you dip this ‘cabbage paper’ into an unknown liquid and it will instantly tell you if it is an acid or a base. Amazing! First of all, there is the miracle of sensing these infinitely invisible free radicals, the positive hydrogen H+ ion or the negative hydroxide OH- ion, in solution. The cabbage knows. Then there is a second wonder of color change in which a chemical reaction takes place that then absorbs all light rays except the green or pink rays, which ever the case may be. It is nature’s natural litmus test. Having worked in a laboratory a number of years, I remember the finicky nature of expensive electrodes and constantly calibrated pH meters. Measuring pH accurately can be one of the most difficult of all laboratory procedures. But the cabbage knows instantly which way the cookie will crumble, acid or base. I was impressed with the vegetable itself and excited to learn something new.

This world is filled with wonders that keep expanding my vision of “the goodness of the Lord.” Woodworking has opened a world of wonder to me as I learned just a little of the incredible variety of wood and the characteristics of each species. Persimmon is one of the hardest woods available when dried. Cherished for golf club heads because of that, it also is one of the first woods to rot and decay when it hits the ground. It’s specie name means ‘food for the gods’ and was given because of the wood’s high sugar content. Every bug in the forest is drawn to feed upon it as soon as it dies. There is a story behind every wood that is uniquely written into its DNA. Each tree has its own unique fingerprint when its end grain is examined under a microscope. Each wood has its own strengths and weaknesses when used for various purposes. The variety is incredible, especially here in East Tennessee. And to think that they swim in a sea of pollen from all the trees of the forest, but each retains its own uniqueness over the centuries.

The insect world is filled with wonders. The writing spider eats its own web every night. Doodle-bugs hollow out sand traps for ants. And the preying mantis is just simply impossible. Then there is the animal kingdom of which I know so little. Add to this the wonder of the stars and light years of space. And then we can turn inward and stand awestruck at creation at the atomic and sub-atomic levels. The world of magnetism and electricity can consume a lifetime. A drop of pond water can contain enough life to fill books and books of descriptive text. The enormity of life that exists at the bacteriological level is astounding. Then there is the miracle of life itself. A single strand of DNA can stretch for several feet and contain enough information to fill a complete set of encyclopedias.

Do we stand back and communicate the wonder of creation enough to one another and to our children? It is one thing to teach the facts and facets of creation. But can we ever communicate well enough the sheer wonder of it all? The earth is filled with the goodness of the Lord. The more I fill my heart with wonder, the more I sense the glory and greatness of God. We don’t have all the answers here at CFC. I just hope we can frame the questions in terms writ large enough across the sky to do them justice.