Lions lead by donkeys

Wonder is first expressed by the instigator of the "dangerous idea." Charles Darwin’s final sentence of On the Origin of the Species reads: "There is grandeur in this view of life; with its several powers having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has one cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning, endless forms most wonderful and most beautiful have been, and are being evolved."

Wonder is next stated by author Annie Dillard about the state of the world evolved and/or intelligently designed. "The wonder is -given the errant nature of freedom and the burgeoning of texture in time - the wonder is that all the forms are not monsters, that there is beauty at all, grace gratuitous, pennies found, like mockingbird’s free fall. Beauty itself is the fruit of the creator’s exuberance that grew such a tangle, and the grotesques and horrors bloom from the same free growth, that intricate scramble and twine up and down the conditions of time."

So why in spite of the wonder of ‘it all’ was German General Ludendorff of World War I forced to describe British soldiers as " lions led by donkeys "? Because the wonder of man is that the common, patriotic citizen, endowed with free choice, courage and determination often contrasts with foolish leaders. Think of the Washington politicians and President Obama today. Think of their elitism and hierarchical (governmental) control in the present war against the failing economy. Think about how to preserve your sanity when he sends out emissaries to encourage the public to pledge allegiance to his economic program. Then think again about the beauty and wonder of life which can never be ultimately repressed.