I was listening to a speaker last night, who encouraged his listeners to find something every day which evoked in them a sense of awe. As in a-w-e, not as in "awwww...isn't that a cute puppy calendar?"
He offered as an example, the sense of awe which he experienced on viewing a few shoots of grass popping up through a crack in the concrete when he was out taking his morning walk. How amazing it seemed to him that the grass was able to fight its way up through the concrete crack and grow towards the sun against all odds.
That seemed like a good assignment, and certainly a way to expand the old consciousness. So, this morning on my way to work, I tried to find something which provoked in me a sense of awe.
At first I looked at the long, long limes of telephone poles which lined the street from my home in North Hollywood to Burbank. Hmmmm, not all that awe-inspiring, more like an eyesore. So, I looked at the clouds, but they were all obscured by the telephone poles.
I suppose I could have been awed by my cats when I first woke up, but I was too busy fulfilling their food demands to think about them as objects of awe. I could have been awed by how wonderfully my body works, walking me out to the car and up to my cube at the office, but my mind was too occupied with whether my online banking summary would show a bounced check or not (it didn't).
I could have been awed by the amazing internet and how I can punch buttons with shapes on them, these shapes can somehow go onto a screen, and then you can think about my thoughts and ideas, even though you're miles and miles away. That is pretty awesome, when you stop and think about it. I could have been awed by that, but I was too busy thinking ahead about what I wanted to type. It just sort of goes from my brain to my fingers, to the screen, to the blog to your eyes without any time for awe in there.
I could have been awed by the telephone - I picked up this device, I punched some buttons, and I was able to talk to someone who isn't even in the same room as I am. They're actually in a different city. Wow. That's pretty awesome, isn't it? Huh.
Finally, though, I settled on the Santa Monica Mountains, and decided to be awed by them. Just think how big the earthquakes must have been to thrust those mountains so high up from the ground. Wow. That's awesome. I'm glad I wasn't around when that happened, I think I would have been scared to death!
So, anyway - is there anything that provokes awe in you? Just curious...
Have a good day, all - be alert, be humble, be cool.
Byrd in LA
Posted by wahzoh at January 10, 2008 11:13 AMI went to a Jesuit high school for religion class we had an old priest who used to ask questions like,"When Jesus played baseball what position did he play?" the answer in case you are wondering is "pitcher because he was so short." That impressed me so much that I still remeber it. Then they would bring in this younger guy, who wasn't a priest, and he would lecture on "wonignity" which was wonder and dignity combined. Home work would consist of counting the bubbles in a slice of Wonder Bread or holes in a piece of toilet paper. I would have thought he was completely nuts but since I was dropping acid at the time I could relate. I think that anything can inspire awe if looked at the right way. And I think the wonignity guy was right you have to pay attention to the details. I always figured Jesus could play any position He wanted, it was His ball and He could always take it home.
ch
Hi Byrd, what an odd question. It seems strange and perhaps impossible to go around seeking to be awed by something. My sense of the powerfulness of awe is that it is something that just sort of happens to you spontaneously, that surprise is in the very nature of awe. Trying to be awed strikes me as being much like trying to laugh or to cry. Am I way off base here?
ch, that is the most unique and odd tale of Catholic high school I have ever heard.
Posted by: Harry at January 10, 2008 07:33 PMCH,
That reminds me of the old joke:"What does Jesus do with an elephant with three balls? He walks him and pitches to the rhinoceros."
Yes, yes, yes, and YES! This to me is what 'enlightment' means. Someone once said, "If you were paying attention, you'd be in a constant state of awe every minute." (Today's bumper stickers say "If you're not angry, you're not paying attention." Oh how I long for my younger, more idealist college days!) When I slow down enough to really SEE... to really LISTEN... to really TOUCH and SMELL and EXPERIENCE the world around me, I can quite easily access this state of awe. But it's been awhile since I've shut my "Wild Monkey Mind" up long enough to be there! So THANK YOU, Byrd, for this incredibly simple yet FABULOUSLY urgent reminder to WAKE UP and PAY ATTENTION!!!!
Love,
Queen Lolo
Posted by: Queen Lolo at January 14, 2008 12:34 AM