Sense of Wonder
Music and lyric by Bill & Brenda Sutton
©January 2008, Mad Tom Music
Children leap into the fray that is the challenge of each day
In that vast laboratory – the backyard.
In shorts and tennis shoes they’re sent to gather and experiment.
No quiz is too complex, no task too hard.
From the puff ball to the glider, to the traction of the spider,
To the fine aerodynamics of the kite,
From the mud pie to the icicle, to mastering the bicycle
The child tackles everything in sight…with
A sense of wonder, a sense of marvel,
A sense of passion in the soul,
A shout, “Eureka!” that links them to the whole.
The answer’s not the answer though the question’s satisfied.
They’ve got to find the meaning in the ride…
With a sense of wonder!
Children change and, when they grown, forget the joys they used to know
To relive the grinding lives their parents led.
They leave a box, to drive a box, to get to work inside a box,
They watch a box, and then they go to bed.
Each day’s a dull and devious depiction of the previous
Monotonous old rut from start to close.
So, is it any great surprise when they fail to realize
The wide and wondrous world that’s just beyond their nose?
No sense of wonder, no sense of marvel,
No sense of passion in the soul,
No shout, “Eureka!” that links them to the whole.
The answer’s not the answer though the question’s satisfied.
They’ll never find the meaning in the ride
With no sense of wonder.
Have you sniffed a baby’s head? Jumped and bounced upon your bed?
Captured lightning bugs? Or tracked a bull frog’s sound?
Laid out watching trails of light that steak a sleepy August night?
Have you watched the seeds of new life break the ground?
Would your whole world fall apart if you followed your true heart,
If you danced a jig to the sound of a different drum?
Just recall that point of view; like children, see each day as new,
And gladly seize it when the sight of something comes…with
A sense of wonder, a sense of marvel,
A sense of passion in the soul,
A shout, “Eureka!” that links us to the whole.
The answer’s not the answer though the question’s satisfied.
They’ve got to find the meaning in the ride…
With a sense of wonder!