The Power of Wondering

The power of wondering is an influential human emotion with the potential to reshape life for achieving one's aspirations through new ideas, possibilities, opportunities and new experiences.
The power of wondering is a journey of discovery through new perspectives and innovation.
A sense of wonder sparks curiosity that expands your awareness of your surrounding world.
Imagination
Stepping outside our comfort zone is essential for personal growth, learning and achieving goals.
A feeling of wonder inspires the entrepreneur to identify a new market opportunity and turn it into financial gain.
A vivid imagination envisions outcomes beyond the present fuelled by mental images that enhance possibilities.
Creative imagination analyses, evaluates and makes informed decisions.
Motivation and resilience overcomes obstacles to persevere toward a goal.
A feeling of pride and satisfaction comes with successfully reaching a goal.
Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.
Saint Augustine

Wonder of Philosophy

The Power of Wondering
Alfred North Whitehead (15 February 1861 – 30 December 1947), an English mathematician and philosopher noted that "philosophy begins with a sense of wonder".
Ancient Greeks valued the pursuit of knowledge and sought to understand the world through philosophical inquiry using reason and critical thinking to explore fundamental questions about existence, reality and values.
Their sense of wonder pushed the boundaries of human understanding regarding the universe and our place within it.
Socrates said that the beginning of wisdom is wonder and emphasized the importance of questioning and exploring the world.
Aristotle stated in his Metaphysics that, through wonder, people philosophize to understand the underlying causes and principles of the universe.
"Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the Gods".
-Plato

"The Storks of Shora"

The Power of Wondering
"The Storks of Shora" by Meindert DeJong is a story of the children of Shora, a Dutch, fishing village on the shore of the North Sea in Friesland.
The story is about school children's curiosity of why storks don't nest in their village, unlike neighboring villages and the community of Shora, who come together to attract storks back to their village.
The schoolchildren, Jella, Eelka, Auka, the twins, Pier and Dirk and Lina, the only girl in the school who had written a story about storks, embark on a quest with the blessing of their teacher, to find a wagon wheel for their school roof, which will help the storks return to their little village.
The quest for the wagon wheel begins with Lina staring into her wooden shoe to wonder why!
The teacher gave each of the children a road to explore and guided them to look for a wagon wheel where one is and where one isn't; where one could be and where one couldn't possibly be.
The school children embark on a series of adventures along their given paths facing numerous challenges.
Other important people in the story include Grandmother Sibble III, the wheelchair-bound Janus, and Old Douwa.

The Power of Wondering

Awe and Wonder
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever".
-John Keats.
Beauty is all around us, whether natural or man-made to bring humanity happiness and pleasure.
Awe and wonder begins with God's Creations.
The universe with all its galaxies, planets and stars move to orderly laws.
We have a life-supporting earth, we enjoy starry moonlit nights, breathtaking sunsets, colorful rainbows and the beauties of the seasons.
The brain is the coordinating center of sensation, intellect and nervous activity.
We have the five senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch.
And, the human mind provides the ability to think, reason, make decisions, acquire knowledge and to make plans for the future.
Home
Parents cultivate wonder in their children by encouraging curiosity, through travel experiences, going to museums and enjoying the awe and wonder of parks, gardens, or nature walks in the countryside.
Church
The church fosters a sense of wonder through worship services, sermons, and through fellowship where the faithful can connect with something larger than themselves and experience the awe and mystery of their faith.
School
Schools cultivate a sense of wonder through opportunities for inquiry, engaging in hands-on learning and through field trips that foster curiosity about the natural world.
They ignite wonder through topics that genuinely interest students of real-world events that are relevant.
Simplicity
The wonders of simplicity can be found in everyday experiences that are uncluttered and uncomplicated, be it a landscape or a person that emphasizes authenticity.
Beautiful Sunset
The visual experience of the natural world can be experienced daily through the breath-taking colors of a beautiful sunset.
The Power of Wondering
Art
A powerful piece of art becomes a masterpiece that endures through the ages of time.
Michelangelo's Frescoes
Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel are considered to be his masterpieces.
Charles Dickens
A captivating story paints a picture in the reader's mind to feel the emotions and experience of the story.
Charles Dickens is renowned for his vivid characters and compelling stories like a Christmas Carol.
Landscapes
The grandeur and majesty of nature's landscapes evoke a sense of awe and wonder.
Great Barrier Reef - Australia
The Great Barrier Reef, located off the coast of Queensland, Australia, is the world's largest coral reef, composed of over 2,900 reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi).
The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps.
The Great Barrier Reef was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981.
Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights)
The aurora borealis, or northern lights, is a natural curtain-like, light display in the sky typically seen in high-latitude regions as a result of charged particles from the Sun interacting with the Earth's atmosphere causing them to glow.
The Aurora Borealis is most commonly seen in regions near the North Pole like Iceland, northern Sweden, Finland, Norway, Russia, Canada, and Alaska.
Santorini - Greece
Santorini, Greece, is unique due to its dramatic, volcanic landscape, including volcanic beaches with black, red, and white sand and impressive rock formations.
It is also famous for its iconic Cycladic architecture with white-washed villages perched on volcanic cliffs overlooking the Aegean Sea and stunning sunsets.

Elvis Presley

The Power of Wondering
Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935 to Vernon and Gladys Presley in the middle of the Great Depression (1929 – 1939).
Life was hard during the Great Depression.
The average American family lived by the Depression-era motto: “Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.”
Elvis and his parents lived in a two-room house with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all living near one another.
His childhood was marked by financial hardship and his parents struggled to put food on the table.
Vernon and Gladys working tirelessly at odd jobs to make ends meet.
Elvis Presley rose to become the world's greatest king of rock and roll superstar and an iconic legend who symbolized the 1950s musical revolution that swept the world with his pushed back, pompadour hair, upturned collar and swivelling hips.
His is the “rags to riches” story of a young boy who wondered and visualized his dreams to transcend poverty reaching the heights of fame, fortune and unparalleled success.
His legacy resonates even today as a global icon that profoundly changed the course of music and culture in the mid-1950s".
The moral of his story is "you can do it" despite adversity by believing in his ability to make his dream come true and became a global megastar.

Legacy of Ancient Greece

The Power of Wondering
The legacy of Ancient Greece, land of Pericles, the Three Hundred Spartans and Alexander the Great, created an unparalleled influence on Western thought and culture.
In the 8th century BC, the Greek poet, Homer became the world's first great writer of the first two greatest epics in world literature, the Iliad and the Odyssey which today, are among the most highly praised literary masterpieces in history.
Foundation of Western Civilization
Western Civilization traces its roots back to Classical Greece which was the first and most prominent ancient European civilization that valued liberty.
Ancient Athens represented logic and reason as expressed by the great ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
In this democratic system, the glory of Classical Greece reached its greatest peak with a Golden Age of artistic, literary, architectural, scientific and philosophical achievements.
The world's foremost sporting competition, the Olympic Games originated at Olympia, Greece in 776 BC and today are held in various cities of the world every four years.
Six of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world were inspired by Greek culture and four of them were Greek creations.
The Greek language is used as a basis for many other languages and much of the lexicon of any scientific repertoire.
Hellenistic Age
The Hellenistic Age spanned three centuries of Greek history between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the rise of Augustus in Rome in 31 BC who became the first Roman Emperor.
Alexander the Great's legacy through the Hellenistic Age (323 - 31 BC) began with the conquest of the Persian Empire following the Classical Age of Greece and characterized by a new wave of Greek colonization where Greek became the international language and Greek culture dominated much of the Mediterranean and Middle East.
Through his conquests which stretched as far as India, he founded over seventy cities such as Pergamon in Asia Minor, Antioch in Syria and Alexandria in Egypt which bears his name.
Biblical Asia Minor is the birthplace:
*Of the first Christian churches.
*Greek Saints such as Saint Luke the Evangelist, Saint Timothy, Saint Nicholas, Saint George, Saint Basile, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus and Saint Helene (the mother of the Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great to name just a few were born there.
The Greek people were the first Gentiles (non-Jew) to accept Jesus Christ and to worship as Christians within the eastern-part of the Roman Empire.
Antioch became a center of Hellenistic Judaism and the cradle of gentile Christianity that is intimately connected with the early history of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There were four Greek-speaking, Christian centers in the East:
*Jerusalem
*Antioch
*Alexandria
*Constantinople (Byzantium)
*Rome was the Latin-speaking center in the West.
Hellenism and Judaism formed the basis of Early Christianity because Greek was the international language of the Greco-Roman Period (332 BC - 395 AD).
The New Testament was written in Greek.
The Old Testament was translated from Hebrew to Greek.
Greek was used to preach the Gospel of Christ throughout the Roman Empire.
The Apostles names were Hellenized and Greek names were also given to children throughout Judea and the Diaspora (e.g., Andrew, Peter, Paul, Thomas, Simon Philip, Alexander, Jason etc.).
Byzantine Empire
The Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great (27 February 272 – 22 May 337), established the Greek city of Byzantium in Asia Minor, as the second capital of the Roman Empire on May 11, 330 AD.
Byzantium however, was to become famous as Constantinople and capital of the first Orthodox Christian, Byzantine Empire (330 to 1453 AD).
When Rome fell to Germanic invaders, the Ostrogoths in 476 AD, the Byzantine Empire became known as "The Empire of the Greeks" because its people were Greek, their language and culture was Greek and they referred to themselves as Hellenes or Graekos to preserve their ancient Hellenic heritage.

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