When you are filled with wonder at God's beauty, not only in nature, but in the amazing structure of your own body and mind, you are filled with gratitude. Thankfulness becomes an integral part of your daily living -- for the restoring benefit of sleep; for the dawning of yet another day; for the guidance you have received, and the opportunities of serving others, and for the strength to do this. Even if you are limited in your environment and your physical ability, you can still marvel. For you can enter your inner world, with its thoughts and memories, and reach out in prayer just where you are... To live without wonder is to wonder what living is all about.
There are paintings and sculptures that tug at the heart because they catch a simple moment and make beauty conscious. There is music that "brims the eyes with bliss". Such works of art are shock waves that travel between the ego and the Divine Guest, reminding us of a nobler purpose to life. They create moments in which we know that we can lead a symbolic life, when the Self, like Michelangelo's God, reaches out to touch the outstretched hand of our inner Adam and our ego.