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Good morning.Ìý During this week I’m exploring Jesus’ teaching on how to live well by drawing on examples from nature, especially the birds of the air and the lilies of the field.Ìý One of our characteristic responses to the natural world is wonder, and today's 5th anniversary of the switching on of the Large Hadron Collider is a reminder of the wonders we encounter in both the immensity and the minuteness, the power and the fragility of the universe around us. That extraordinary, huge machine under the ground gave us the possibility of going right back to the origins of life itself.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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It’s hard to explain this sense of wonder, and it’s probably best not to try!Ìý But we do know that the experience of amazement can lead to other things: it can give us a sense of our smallness, but in a way that makes us feel truly connected to all that is, it can fill us with an inexplicable elation, and it can lead to a sense of gratitude.Ìý For those who have a religious faith, this gratitude is directed towards the One who is the giver of the gift of life, but for all of us, gratitude is a disposition that changes our outlook on the world.Ìý The habit of thankfulness orients our life outwards, beyond our smaller concerns, towards other people and the concerns of the world which touch us all.

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God of all creation,

we look in wonder at the world around us

and this wonder brings us joy at the mystery of life itself.

May our wonder turn to gratitude

and may our gratitude lift us from all that wearies us

and renew us in our commitment to everything that lives.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.