“As knowledge increases, wonder deepens.”

– Charles Morgan

When I was a child, I would look at the adults in my life and think that they knew everything.  If I had a question, they had an answer; and I took in all they could teach me.  My curiosity was as boundless as their knowledge of the world; and as I dipped my curious little sponge into their endless ocean, I longed for the day when all my questions would finally be answered.  Then I, too, would be grown up and possess all the knowledge.  My linear mind looked forward to a time when I could neatly define and categorize the world around me and master its workings.

The years flew by, and I learned many things.  I learned the names of different creatures — of animals and plants and minerals and stars.  I learned how they grew and changed and lived.  I learned the climates that each preferred.  I learned about my own species and how our bodies are made.  I learned how all of my parts fit together to create a unified whole that defined me as a human being.  My sponge grew to enormous size as I returned again and again to the ocean of learning; but still my questions outnumbered my answers.

I always thought that acquiring enough knowledge would finally lead me to a place where my questions would stop.  I would arrive at this place of knowing all and finally be satisfied.  As I have grown, two things have become apparent.  The first is that no matter how many questions and answers I visit, there will always be new ones.  Knowledge has no beginning and end.  The second is that knowledge is only the beginning of learning.  It is in the times of reflection on the answers we have learned that we begin to discover the truth about knowing things.

In the times of reflecting on what we learn and seeing how the separate pieces of learning fit together to form a much bigger picture of the universe, we find ourselves stretching in wonder and trying to understand more than just questions and answers.  We might know all about the anatomy of humans; but when we look at a newborn child, we wonder at the uniqueness that defines each of us.  We might understand the water cycle and how it quenches the thirst of the world, but we marvel at the creative genius behind such a miraculous  system.  The end of knowledge is not a resting place.  Rather, the end of knowledge is the beginning of learning and the path to wisdom.

As we reflect on the things we learn and let our curiosity turn to wonder, we discover that we carry within us a knowing that was part of our birthright.  It connects us with the Truth, which is that each tiny piece of data we take in about ourselves and our world is connected to each other piece we have learned.  Each time we see that connection, there is something deep inside us that cries out, “and I am part of it all.”  If knowledge is about learning how the world operates and how the pieces fit together, then wisdom is discovering that there is something infinite that surrounds it all and gives breath and life to the things we can define.

The real gift of learning is discovering the path that connects what we learn to the knowing that has always cried out from the depths of our being.  It is a life-long process.  We will never know all the answers, or even know all the questions; but the joy of discovering again and again that something much more wondrous than the things we can touch leads us to grow beyond the limits of knowledge.  Go forth today in wonder and let your mind reflect and connect with  your knowing.  Step into wisdom and wonder.