NYC26: Wonder

A Prayer for All Those Who Participated in NYC26

Grace and peace to the students, pastors, and leaders returning home from NYC26 and to those who participated via NYC Live!

As you return home from these days together, you carry so much more than memories. You carry songs echoing in your heart, conversations that are still lingering long after they ended, prayers that have changed you, and glimpses of God that words can scarcely contain. Though the event has ended, the pilgrimage has not. The road continues beneath your feet.

Saint Gregory the Great once wrote, “Wisdom is born of wonder.” That simple sentence has been treasured by the Church for centuries because it speaks to something so true about the Christian life. We begin with awe.

Before we confess our faith, we are astonished by the God who first loved us.

Before we speak, we are invited to listen.

Before we understand, we learn to wonder.

True worship is born from this holy wonder. We gather not because we have mastered the mysteries of God but because we have been overwhelmed by God’s goodness, holiness, mercy, and love. Every song we sing, every prayer we offer, every act of service, and every moment of silence is a response to the God who is infinitely greater than our understanding and yet nearer than our own breath.

As you saw this week, wonder is not childish. It is one of the deepest marks of spiritual maturity.

Wonder slows us down. It teaches us to be silent in a world that is constantly loud and speaking. It forms hearts that are contemplative instead of merely reactive. It reminds us that God is always greater than our definitions and always more beautiful than we can imagine.

Do not lose this gift.

The world often rewards quick answers, confident opinions, and absolute certainty. Yet the saints remind us that the deepest faith is rarely anxious to have every question resolved. Instead, they teach us to remain open—to keep listening, seeking, asking, and trusting that the Holy Spirit continues to lead us into all truth.

Remain curious.

Ask good questions.

Read deeply.

Pray honestly.

Never mistake fundamentalism for faithfulness.

The Christian life is not a possession to be defended but a pilgrimage to be lived.

As you continue your journey, let wonder become your companion.

Open the Scriptures with fresh eyes. Do not merely search for information; seek the living Christ who speaks through every page. Let the stories of Abraham’s journey, Ruth’s faithfulness, David’s songs, Mary’s surrender, the apostles’ courage, and above all the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus continually surprise you. Scripture is not exhausted by one reading or one sermon. It is a well whose depths can never be emptied.

Also remember that your faith did not begin with you, me, or NYC2026.

You belong to a story stretching across thousands of years—a communion of saints from every language, nation, culture, and generation. You walk beside martyrs and monks, pastors and poets, theologians and missionaries, mothers and fathers, children and elders who have all sought to follow Christ in their own time and place. Learn from them. Listen to them. Let the history of the Church expand your imagination for what faithfulness can look like.

And do not forget to look outside.

Creation itself is a sanctuary filled with praise. Mountains and oceans, forests and fields, sunsets and stars all proclaim the glory of God. Sit quietly beneath a tree. Watch the clouds move across the sky. Listen to birdsong before reaching for your phone. The world is still filled with reminders that the Creator delights in beauty.

Seek beauty wherever you find it.

In music that lifts your soul.

In paintings that awaken hope.

In poetry that gives words to longing.

In architecture that points heavenward.

In laughter shared around a table.

In faithful friendships.

In acts of compassion.

Beauty is never merely decoration. It is often one of God’s gentle ways of drawing us toward Godself. Beauty awakens wonder, and wonder becomes worship.

As you return to ordinary life, resist the temptation to believe that God only moves in extraordinary moments like NYC. The same Holy Spirit who met you there walks with you into classrooms, homes, churches, workplaces, neighborhoods, and quiet mornings. The God of the mountaintop is also the God of the ordinary path.

Carry the posture of a pilgrim.

Pilgrims travel lightly because they know they have not yet arrived. They remain teachable. They welcome strangers. They notice beauty. They are willing to be changed by the journey. Above all, they keep moving toward Christ.

May your faith never become so settled that you cease to wonder.

May your convictions always be held with humility.

May your worship continue to flow from awe.

May your curiosity become a lifelong companion.

May your heart remain open to the surprising work of the Holy Spirit.

And above all, may you forever dwell in the vastness of God’s love.

There is no edge to that love.

No height beyond it.

No depth beneath it.

No place where Christ is not already present before you arrive.

You are loved more deeply than you can imagine.

Every person you meet bears the image of the same God who loves you.

Every act of kindness participates in God’s redemption.

Every glimpse of beauty whispers of the coming Kingdom.

So continue your pilgrimage with joyful expectation.

Remain people of wonder.

Remain seekers of beauty.

Remain students of Christ.

And may the God whose love has no end continue to astonish you all the days of your life.

On the Journey,

A Fellow Pilgrim,
Brent +