Wonder and the Healing Power of Awe...

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I've been musing of late over the idea of wonder. It seems to me that it is often not given it's due place in our society. The more I reflect on life, the more I realize how mysterious it really is. Do any of us truly understand it? Sure, on a day-to-day basis we know how to function and we understand in a rudimentary sense how the world around typically operates, but life in its grand sense, in its more full sense, tends to reject any strict definition we try to give to it. This being said: I think wonder is a completely sensible response to the world which we inhabit. Sometimes it seems the only appropriate response.

I don't think science has stolen the magic from the stars (as some claim). I think it's still there if we're willing to recognize it. And I'm beginning to think that it's very important that we learn to recognize it (not just in the stars but in all of life and the world around). When I stand in awe of a sunrise, when the sight and sound of hundreds of bees at work in a field of flowers cause me to marvel, when the radiant beauty of creation lifts my soul to soar amongst the clouds, the effect is that (even if just for a fleeting moment) I am drawn outside of myself. Like love, the awe felt in the presence of something greater than me, which this wide world in all its glory certainly is, re-orients my very being. As a Christian I would argue that this re-orientation is towards the God who created, and is reflected in, this world of ours. But whatever one might think of the divine, this re-orientation is perhaps one of the healthiest things we can do (or have done?) for ourselves. It seems to me that when we are drawn outside of ourselves we are given a reprieve from all that might weigh us down. We are given an opportunity to let go of our fears, to step back from the pain, and to release our burdens. Perhaps awe is the respite given for the struggles of life.

I personally have found the experience of awe to have a healing effect. I have found in those brief but magical moments when I am drawn out of myself, those moments when my soul is lifted from its daily burdens and allowed to sing, I have found in those moments the chance for healing, the much needed rest, and the strength and inspiration to move forward in life.

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