Awe can be an everyday experience and can be unexpected. A waitress may respond as she writes up an order, “Awesome!” Her intention is certainly positive, but is her response just a bit over the top? It might be right on target if awe is an everyday expectation.
When we look; we can find awe anywhere in incidents large and small. Moments of awe in our lives are more than the notion of an extreme once-in-a-lifetime experience that can leave you trembling. Awe can be felt in a range of pleasant circumstances. For example, witnessing a brave first-responders' actions in a crisis or parents raising a child with health problems or even watching one’s obliging husband move heavy objects around the house. [grin] Babies are certainly awesome; just ask grandma. Why is that? They haven’t written a novel or saved the world yet. Could it be their potential?
Awe induces a feeling of effervescence: such as dancing, chanting, or even in sports matches where we find a jubilant closeness with others? Awe can even arise in the natural world. That's when we find ourselves mesmerized by the play of light and shadow under a leafy tree on a summer afternoon. Sometimes it can happen when we feel safe. Other elicitations of awe include the musical and visual arts. A pattern suddenly becomes clear to us, and we see the scheme of things. The feeling of spirituality and transcendence can envelope us when we pray, fast or meditate. We can induce awe as a regular occurrence in our lives. That's great news.
Awe is good for us. It can release pleasure chemicals in the brain, getting our serotonin rising, our oxytocin going and our vagus nerve thrumming. For a healthy mind we could take time to tap into the sources of awe that lie all around us. We can experience wonderful emotions when we encounter vast mysteries that we have not noticed or understood before.
Is there another way of understanding awe can be good, true and beautiful? Yes there is. There must be more than simple beauty, more than just music. An awesome song is one that through its melodic beauty transports us to a moment of truth beyond language.
Other awesome experiences combine truth with goodness. An awesome spiritual encounter might remind us we are surrounded by a kind force that makes us feel that our existence is real. To truly be awesome it must hit us with the underlying truth that we are all connected in our common humanity.
The term “moral beauty” suggests what we feel when our fellow human beings perform acts that are good, helpful and beneficent. These acts require extraordinary courage or impressive strength. When moments in nature strike us, it's because their beauty conveys a further sense of sustaining goodness, benevolence and blessedness. Find all three together and you have yourself one of those once in a lifetime experiences. The good, the true, and the beautiful are perennials that create a true communication in many wonderful stories. In much of our life, awe is always welcome of course. Awe resides in the sweet spot among many qualities. It's all around us.
“I am in awe of the unending grace of God.” Daily Word, March 9, 2023.
03/19/23