Out of Wonder

In Out of Wonder, Nellie McLaughlin takes the reader on a journey through life in the universe, from its initial ‘flaring forth’ to the present day. In so doing, she presents a passionately argued case for the need to live in harmony with the earth, which has supported life for eons. This updated edition includes a new foreword in which the author explores the context of her work in the light of the publication of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical on the environment.

‘When the winter storms chill the inside of our windows as well as the outside, cloaking the world in mystery, I love to blow a tiny hole with my warm breath and peep – not knowing whether in or out – glimpsing the snowflakes feathering the trees. This book is a story, a peephole, as it were, into deep space and time. Where were you when the stars exploded in twinkling brilliance or when the first delicate stirrings of life moved in the waters? Out of Wonder holds out a message of hope. It invites the reader to be awestruck by the thirteen billion-year evolutionary story. We are all one within the community of creation, each being a unique revelation of the divine. The human is the being in whom the universe becomes self-consciously aware. This is both a privilege and a responsibility. May the wonder of this amazing story inspire us to acknowledge and celebrate our interconnectedness as the community of the universe.’