Remembering Who We Are

My favorite prayer these days is “Wow!” Sometimes I actually utter the word. But mostly I realize that I’ve prayed a wow-prayer in retrospect. Something has stopped me in my tracks. Taken my breath away.

The sunset over Lake Kincaid.

A mother fox with her kits peeking curiously through the underbrush.

A bald eagle wheeling over my back yard.

Wow! As Anne Lamott puts it, “It’s about having [my] mind blown by the mesmerizing or the miraculous.” (Help, Thanks, Wow, p. 70)

Sometimes I say, “God, you do amazing work.”

Predictably enough, looking at myself in the mirror has never taken my breath away. If I’ve ever said, “Wow!” about my reflection, it was something like this: “Wow, I need a haircut.” Or, “Wow, when did I get those bags under my eyes?”

Never once have I gazed at myself in the mirror and said, “God, you do…