I've been pondering about the word ponder recently. We don't ponder much anymore; at least we don't
call it by that name. I'm purposely not going to look the word up. The reason I'm not is because my pondering leads me to believe that
ponder is a word that carries an emotional, as well as technical meaning. It's something that's felt as much, or more than it's "telt." It's a word that furrows one's brow, causes one to stare off into the distance, and not hear what's happening around them. Getting all definitional kind of robs the word of some of that.
My pondering is generated by a series of Christmas messages I'm working on,
"The Wonder of Christmas." By the way,
wonder and
ponder rhyme. Don't worry, though, I won't compose any poetry. My thoughts go well beyond the incidental fact that these words sound alike. They are alike. We ponder on the wonderful--the vastness of the universe, the potential in the life of a baby in the womb, the future of a newly married couple, the meaning of life, or the glory of a sunrise. We ponder over things about which we know enough to know they are wonderful. We wonder about what is over the horizon, and that provides more fodder for pondering. Subjects most worthy of pondering concern matters that are like a diamond mine with an endless supply of gems. We know we'll never get to the bottom of it, but the deeper we dig the more wonders we find.
Nothing in the universe is more worthy of pondering than the wonderful truth that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . .
Check back with me. We'll ponder this wonder together.
