Gazing up into a canvas of darkness, a small light – like that of a shooting star – can be seen tracing its way across the night. Up and up and up it goes. Eyes follow in anticipation, guessing at what form it will take.

A flash! A burst! An echoing boom!

And that small, lonely light traveling across the darkness bursts into a hundred, each leaving a glittering trail as it cascades down to earth below.

A firework show is never without ohh’s and ahh’s and it’s no wonder why. Sitting below, watching a night sky light up and cascade down, so close it seems you can reach out and touch it, is magical.

I love fireworks. Even with your eyes closed, hearing that whistling sound traveling up into the air, anticipating that loud “BOOM!” and feeling the sound wave hit your body is so cool!

(Though, we accidentally brought our little dog, Hiro, to the show this year, and the minute that first firework exploded, he tried to sprint his way to who knows where! Fun Sad Fact: More pets run away on Fourth of July than any other day of the year. No worries, though, Matt took him to the car and he recovered the next day by not leaving the couch… the. whole. day. :’D)

But for most of us humans, fireworks cause us to wonder.

Why?

Think about it. Go back to the first paragraph and re-live watching a firework. What happens in your mind? Different feelings come over you – anticipation, excitement, fear, awe, happiness – good feelings. And in watching something so beautiful and powerful and larger than yourself, you most likely forgot about yourself. Your attention was allured by the wonder of watching a firework and you disappeared from your mind for a time. Ah… doesn’t it feel nice.

We were made to wonder.

To have that feeling of watching fireworks all the time. And in wondering, forget about ourselves for a time and take joy in something greater than ourselves. Take a look inside the human body and you see a network of little  “fireworks” going off:

"First and foremost, electricity is the language of the brain. At any moment, there are millions of tiny electrical impulses (action potentials) whizzing around your brain. At synaptic junctions, these impulses release specific chemicals (i.e., neurotransmitters), which in turn modulate the electrical activity in the next cell. This is the fundamental basis for neural communication. Somehow, these processes underpin every thought/feeling/action you have ever experienced."*

And though no actual light is in our brain, on certain brain imaging machines, these impulses light up the screen like fireworks in the night. Isn’t that INCREDIBLE?! I don’t know about you, but the fact that I have something that mirrors the wondrous and awesome act of a firework, and surely is even more intricate and amazing than a firework, in my body is ENTHRALLING! Baby, you’re a FIREWORK (my college jam by the way)!

Our brain is filled with a universe of wonders. And this little wonder of a firework – being in awe of something –  was imprinted in our own mind and being, even in this small way.

We were made to wonder.

To be in awe at the fireworks that burst into the night sky and those that are happening in our bodies right this very moment. God loves to enthrall his children. He loves to watch your eyes light up and to hear your heartbeat quicken as you “ooh” and “ahh”. He made us to enjoy his creation and even more, to enjoy Him.

We were made to wonder.

To behold something so much greater than ourselves that we take joy in forgetting ourselves in light of his beauty and power. To feel that anticipation, excitement, fear and awe when we acknowledge Him.

We were made to wonder.

To see that God can bring wonder even to canvases of darkness. To let that wonder trace its way across the darkness. A a little light of hope and beauty – up and up and up it goes. Eyes follow in anticipation, guessing at what form it will take.

A flash! A burst! An echoing boom!

And that small, lonely light traveling across a canvas of darkness explodes into a hundred lights, each leaving a glittering trail as it cascades down to earth below.

Do you not know? Do you not hear?

Has it not been told to you from the beginning?

Have oyu not understood from the foundations of the earth?

It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,

and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

and spreads them like a tent to dwell in…

– Isaiah 40 –

* https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/brain-metrics/what_does_fmri_measure