moments of wonder

I have had a lot more time to read since I got to the U.S., seeing as how I don't have a real job here and all. The latest book in my stack was the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I loved this description of the stranded boy on the boat when he experiences a flash of lightning.

It was something to pull me out of my limited mortal ways and thrust me into a state of exalted wonder.... To Richard Parker I shouted, "Stop your trembling! This is a miracle. This is an outbreak of divinity. This is...this is..." I could not find what it was, this thing so vast and fantastic. I was breathless and wordless. I lay back on the tarpaulin, arms and legs spread wide. The rain chilled me to the bone. But I was smiling. I remember that close encounter with electrocution and third-degree burns as one of the few times during my ordeal when I felt genuine happiness.
At moments of wonder, it is easy to avoid small thinking, to entertain thoughts that span the universe, that capture both thunder and tinkle, thick and thin, the near and the far.

Hopefully it won't take being stranded on a boat in the middle of the ocean for me to experience some wonder at the amazing created world. Actually, I'm going to have an awesome chance tomorrow because my sister is scheduled to be induced into labor. I'm going to be holding my little nephew soon!