WONDERMENT

Wonderment is the sense of awe and admiration for all nature.

Through awe and wonderment, one comes to appreciate the creation and the Creator. Guru Nanak and many other saints lived in great awe of the wonders of nature. In many of his verses Guru Nanak Dev Ji expressed how amazed he was at the great works of the Creator. As humans we are blessed with this gift of awe and wonderment. Through our five senses, we witness and emotionalize our innermost feelings and connect with our Maker.

In Asa di Vaar, Guru Nanak describes the wonders of nature and his deep admiration for God as:

"God's Word is wonderful; His knowledge is wonderful.

Wonderful His Creatures; wonderful their species.

Wonderful their forms, wonderful their colors ...... .

Seeing these wonderful things, I remain wondering One realizes

the secrets of these wonders due to his good fortune"

Throughout the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the gurus have made references to God's beauty and grace as expressed by nature. This wonder and beauty is present all around us, only if we open our eyes and hearts. A wonderful thing happens when we do this. We begin to develop a deep gratitude for God and His incredible talent. We begin to relate to God through our True Guru, who is referred to as Waheguru. Waheguru means wonderful God. To become a better human is to relate to Waheguru and come to the realization that all that we see and feel are His works. Through this relationship with God we form a closer bond with Him. This is just the first step in the wonderful relationship with our Guru. There are many references to this most wonderful and eternal friendship with the True Guru:

For his disciple He is like father, mother, master, God, friend, relative and brother

(p. 2 5 0 Gauri Bawan Akhri M 5)

He is the key bearer of the house of the Lord. Only He can open it.

(p.124, Majh MJ)

He is anxious to get the release of all humanity. He is merciful. He forgives the sinners

(p.302 Vaar Gauri M 4)

I am a sacrifice to Him, to resides in His nature( Rehraas)

We begin to cultivate an intimate friendship with Waheguru who is our True friend and Master. He is the one who leads us to God. He protects us from evil and guides our footsteps. A true Guru is the one who is self-realized or one with God. Actually we cannot

differentiate between God and Guru because a true Guru comes to us through God's grace and through a Guru's grace we realize God.

We cannot see God, but we can see what He has created. God is present in His creation. When we begin to notice the detail and beauty of His trees, mountains, flowers, animals and people, we are actually coming closer to God through His creation. Do not take things for granted. Stop and look carefully. Everything is sacred.

If you talk too much, you 'You'll miss the singing of the birds and the rustling of the wind. If you rush too much you will miss the rosy sunset, the beautiful rainbow, the dew covered lawn or the tiny wild flowers blooming along the road.

God speaks to you all the time, but you are too busy talking to yourself or to others to notice His wonders. So make it a habit to become silent and look for God in His creation. He is waiting to welcome you.