Opening to the Spirit
Today’s Word: Awe
1
) Awe: we make the same sound when we are expressing disappointment and when we are in utter amazement. The intonation makes all the difference.
I remember trying to learn rudimentary Japanese in order to communicate with our exchange student. There again a host of meanings were attributed to the same word depending on the intonation.
Human communication is endlessly complex. Sometimes we say one thing, but think the opposite. We say nothing and expect the other to read our minds. Often the emotion with which we express ourselves has more of an impact than the actual words. Burned into many of our memories are the words “I have a dream.” They can stir our hearts even today, decades after they first issued forth from the lips of Martin Luther King Jr.
When we speak from our hearts, with honesty and integrity, vulnerability and humility, the actual words may fade from memory. But the meaning will be remembered as important and awe-inspiring.
2
) I still get goose bumps when I remember that night. It was a difficult time in my life, both personally and professionally. I went out late one evening for a walk. We lived in the country and there was a particularly starry sky. At some point I paused and looked up, and saw in that moment a shooting star cascading across the heavens. I stood and watched with a profound sense of awe. I also remember an intense feeling that I was not alone in the universe. Thank you God, I said.
I tend to use awesome a great deal. My friends kid me about it, rightfully so. Not every experience is worthy of that word, but some are. I take solace from knowing that awesome is biblical. Jacob, the teenaged runaway, was awoken from an uncomfortable sleep. He was outdoors on a rocky hilltop at the time. He was overcome by a powerful dream of a ladder, with angels going to and from the heavenly places. His first words upon awakening were “How awesome is this place”. Jacob created a small pillar of stones and promised to return one day. He named the rocky hilltop “Bethel”, which means the place of God.
I know how Jacob felt. I deeply understand his sense of awe. I have also been to Bethel, not the same hilltop, but other places where God has become real for me. Sometimes it's right here, sitting across a table with my three writing colleagues, a candle flame burning in the middle, pen in hand, all open to the Spirit. How awesome is this place!
3
) Awe is wonder raised to the nth degree. When appreciation "knocks me for a loop" and strikes me speechless, when I am aware of being in the presence of the sacred, or encounter a dimension that lifts me beyond my limited understanding, I am in awe. I want to kneel down or bow before the mystery.
I once heard a child of four play Mozart with all the grace and skill of a seasoned concert pianist. I once stood before an original Van Gogh and caught the wild energy of his brushstrokes on canvas. I once walked into a small chapel in the woods ~ no carved doors, stained glass windows or statues on pedestals ~ just a bright green clearing in the trees and a particular slant of afternoon light filtering through, no leaf moving. A few stumps arranged in a circle, a fire pit in the center ~ whatever energy gave rise to the great cathedrals must have created this timeless space. Too spellbound for words, I felt no need to even pray but simply stood with open arms and absorbed the energy.
When have you witnessed something or been in the presence of someone that fills you with awe? The poet Mary Oliver writes: "Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light…" Most days I go about so self or other-absorbed, I hardly know what I am missing. I suspect if I was truly paying attention to this amazing gift called life, to all that might awaken me to wonder, if I truly allowed myself to be ambushed by astonishment, I'd experience awe more often.
4
) Awe can get us up on our feet and awe can drop us to the ground. Awe almost always is silent.
I am told that the best response a performer can get at the end of a show is not instant cheering and clapping. The best response isn’t even the standing ovation. The best response is a moment or two of silence. If you have been at a show like this, you know what it feels like. The audience is overwhelmed. What we have witnessed together is so powerful, so beautiful, or so deeply true, that we are momentarily struck dumb.
My kids grew up in a bright city. When we would spend time at a cottage, or anywhere in a country night, their response to the starry sky was always awe. Sometimes we would lie in the grass and watch the sparkling stars in a blessed silence.
Perhaps we would be overwhelmed by beauty every day if we could look with the eyes of awe at things we see all the time. Perhaps it would be too much. If you live in the country and were awestruck by the stars every clear night it would be hard to get things done.
Awe takes us by surprise. It can lift us to our feet for a standing ovation at the end of a show. It can make us lie down in the grass to look at the stars. But, first, it will make us silent.
One word, four voices - now it's your turn: What in your life do you find worthy of awe?
Rev. Mead Baldwin pastors the Waterville & North Hatley pastoral charge; Rev. Lynn Dillabough is now Rector of St. Paul's in Brockville ON. She continues to write for this column as a dedicated colleague with the Eastern Townships clergy writing team; Rev. Lee Ann Hogle ministers to the Ayer’s Cliff, Magog & Georgeville United Churches; Rev. Carole Martignacco is Consulting Minister to UU Estrie-unitarian Universalists in North Hatley.