"Irish priest John J. O Riordain sees faith as not only linked with praise, but also with wonder. This reminds me of the Irish musician Van Morrison, whose song 'A Sense of Wonder' simply and beautifully expresses the mystical experience of regarding life and the world with the open eyes of faith. Wonder is a lovely word, for it is related to the word wound — indeed, in Middle English wonder is spelled 'wounder.' Opening ourselves to spiritual enlightenment is a process of vulnerability, which means 'capable of being wounded.' But the wounding of wonder comes not from a knife or a bullet, but from the luminous glories of supernal light, from the profound beauties of graced nature, from the inspiring sense of divine presence that can propel us into a state of ecstasy — 'out of the body' and into the heart of the Divine. One need not believe anything to experience wonder — only an open mind, heart, and soul are necessary. And yet that openness can, once the blessings are received and acknowledged, serve only to foster a faith that will carry us forward in hope, even when our experiences may not transport us into the ecstasies we desire. Wonder, like any other experience, comes and goes. But the faith that it inspires and supports (and that in turn inspires and supports all luminous experiences) anchors within the soul at a level deeper than experience, a level where the choice is made to say 'Yes' to God."