Awe & Wonder

What causes you to experience awe and wonder at this point in your life?
Do you believe feeling those things is important for you?

It is incredibly important for us to experience awe and wonder on a regular basis. Now, I must acknowledge that there are aspects of what I seek in life, that do not necessarily line up perfectly with what others seek. But generally, I believe I am a fairly run-of-the-mill humanoid. Let me tell you why!

First of all, if you are one of those who refers to themself as “spiritual, but not religious “ , I believe the greatest catalyst for the growth of real spirituality is feeling awe and wonder. It’s interesting to me that the two words; awe and wonder, are very often used together, which makes me wonder if their meanings are the same. Webster’s definition of awe is feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder. Hmmm… there’s that word wonder again. And the definition of wonder is a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.

Let me explain, what I believe the impact of the absence of those two words is in our lives. We seem to seek homeostasis… Keeping life the same day in and day out. We like being able to anticipate what is coming, to be able to control our environment, internally and externally. And we even seek to control and manage when we are going to experience small amounts of awe and wonder. Here are a few examples – going to the movies, skydiving, vacations, going camping and on and on. Feeling those two words can often be unsettling for some.

For me, however, it enables me to maintain what one of my dear friends has taught me to call being “right sized”. Often a core theme of the 12 steps, being right sized means recognizing that I am not the highest power in the universe. Awe and wonder remind us of that whenever we experience them we assume our proper place in God’s world. That is why, I believe, that not feeling these essential elements to life leads us to believe that our needs, desires, instincts, and beliefs should be seen by all as truth. God, or a power greater than ourselves, is the only entity in life that sees truth objectively. The rest of us can see aspects of truth, but not absolute truth. We are right sized when we recognize that and then “bend the knee” in recognition of my limited vision and understanding.

I really like that definition of wonder… “feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.” The feeling of surprise, mingled with admiration… Wow, the definition of wonder makes me feel it. When we experience the beautiful in life, mixed with the unexpected, the unfamiliar and especially the inexplicable; we assume our proper place in life.

I hope you will keep your eyes open over the next week for examples of you feeling right sized. When we are… right sized, all of life and relationships works so much better.