Life is the strangest thing
that has ever happened to me.
It strikes me as odd that trillions of molecules, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and many others should have an opinion, should develop an attitude, should scratch an itch, should wake up in the morning alive with consciousness, should fall in love. Trillions of other molecules of those same elements do not get that opportunity.
Yet, do we stand in awe at the statistical odds against existing?
In his marvelous little book Lives of a Cell Lewis Thomas writes:
Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small
that you’d think the mere fact of existing would keep us all in a
contented dazzlement of surprise.
Of course, it doesn’t. We get used to existing, take it for granted, assume our existence is normal. But being humanly alive is not the norm. We humans are an oddity alive on island earth in the vast cosmic sea. We are exceptional, everyone of us a miracle and a marvel.
In the words of Emily Dickinson,
To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.
We seem to have plenty of time for everything else and little time to be startled by the sheer wonder of life. Are you surprised to be? If not, look up into a cloudless night sky. Hold a baby in your arms. Visit a zoo. All are opportunities to contemplate the magnitude of your being.
We are wonderful when we practice being wonder-filled.
May you be startled by being!