The Wonder of Ordinary Things

Sometimes I just sit and marvel at profoundly ordinary things.

For example, I love maple syrup as a sweetener, and it suddenly occurred to me how marvelous it is. A tree weeps it out. God made trees that, when cut open, bleed out a sweet treat for us. How did God even think of this? I wonder about the planning process involved in heaven.

I read the words written by English chemist Robert Boyle in 1663: “There is in some parts of New England a kind of tree whose juice that weeps out its incision, if it is permitted slowly to exhale away the superfluous moisture, doth congeal into a sweet and saccharin substance. . . .”

I sip coffee with a splash of maple syrup in it, and I marvel.