The Greatest Wonder: Discovering God, Creation, and the Power of Prayer

We are so accustomed to the reality around us, that we often fail to recognize the extraordinary wonder hidden in every part of our lives. If we lower our gaze, open our eyes, and truly pay attention, our hearts will rise toward Heaven, and we will see a reality so wondrous that words cannot capture it.

The Wonders of the Physical World

Consider the scientific discoveries revealed to us in the past century of breathtaking marvels of creation. People are amazed at the unimaginable vastness of the universe, but even more astonishing are the laws of physics themselves — principles that shatter all our human assumptions about space and time.

Think of the inconceivable idea that matter itself is nearly nothing: atoms are in constant motion, and if not for that motion, the entire universe could collapse into the head of a pin.

Biology, too, is filled with astonishing wonders. Entire hidden worlds teem with millions of bacteria on every object — living beings that breathe, eat and are eaten, hunt, defend themselves, and reproduce.

Our own bodies are created from billions of tiny cells, each one more complex than all the factories in our country combined. The DNA inside a single cell’s nucleus functions like a supercomputer, encoding hundreds of thousands of pages of information, storing microscopic “books” and assembling intricate machines too small for the eye to see.

The physical world itself is already miraculous, beyond comprehension. Even our ability to understand just a fraction of it is itself a gift that demands gratitude.

The Wonder of Awareness

Not only the scientific reality is miraculous, but consciousness itself is the most astonishing wonder of all. Animals live, but they are not self-aware, and cannot step back and contemplate their own existence.

The greatest truth of all, articulated by Maimonides at the opening of his Mishneh Torah: “The foundation of foundations and the pillar of wisdom is to know that there is a First Being, who brings every other being into existence. All that exists in heaven and earth, and everything in between, exists only through the truth of His existence.”

Speaking to the Infinite

The One who created billions of galaxies and stars, who sustains the entire universe at this very moment, listens to each of us, personally and intimately. The One who holds the sun in place hears our words. Titles like “King of Kings” and “Master of All Power” are not metaphors; they are literal truth.

Is it not astonishing to speak to the Eternal? To speak to the One who was, is, and will always be? To address the Infinite, who has no equal, who never changes, and who holds existence itself in His hand?

What could compare to one moment of recognizing the truth of the reality of God’s existence? What could be greater than a single instant in which we stand before the King of Kings, aware of Him in our hearts, and speaking to Him with our lips?

The God Who Listens

The Midrash tells how Avraham looked at the world like a palace ablaze. Could such a palace exist without a master? And God appeared to him and said: “I am the Master of the world.”

The thought that the One who sustains all reality listens to us is overwhelming. David Hamelech (King David) himself marveled:
“When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have set in place — what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?” (Tehillim 8).

Despite our smallness, God crowns us with dignity and beauty. He listens to us, watches over us, and answers us — sometimes with a yes, sometimes a no. He is not human, yet He knows us more deeply than any human could, for He Himself created our minds, our hearts, our capacity for love and mercy.

Isn’t it astonishing that every thought we can think, every feeling we can feel, every physical or emotional experience, was designed by the Creator and placed within us?

(photo: shutterstock)

The Gift of Torah and Commandments

God gave us Torah and commandments to guide us, to shape our lives, and to teach us how to come close to Him.

Isn’t it astounding that the One who split the sea, who gave the Ten Commandments at Sinai, chose us as His people? That He spoke to our entire nation and handed down His instructions for life?

For thousands of years, He has saved our people time and again, keeping us alive while so many ancient nations vanished into history. We are a people of memory, “the People of the Book,” connected by an unbroken chain of faith.

When we recite the Shema Yisrael, we join Moshe, Rabbi Akiva, Maimonides, and countless generations of sages and saints who said the same words. Our prayers and blessings connect us to them, and together we speak to the One who unites us all.

The Greatest Gift of All

Every commandment, every prayer, and every act of service is itself a gift. To serve the Creator is the highest honor possible. If a world leader asked to visit our home, we would consider it a great privilege. We have the King of the universe asking us to serve Him. What greater honor could there be?

Beyond this, He promises us eternal reward. What greater generosity could exist than to give reward for the very acts that He Himself enables us to perform?

If only we could open our eyes to see, and our hearts to feel, the reality of our Creator, our lives would be entirely different. For in every moment, Heaven is here — present, near, waiting for us to look up and recognize it.

The greatest gift ever given to a living being is our existence itself: the awareness that allows us to touch, however faintly, the infinite awareness that created us. That is love. That is truth. That is the greatest wonder of all.