Skip to main content

Awe and Wonder

            Have you ever felt wonder, or a sense of awe? I have, and it is ethereal.  For me it transpires the most in nature, when all of my senses are being used to experience the moment.  The smell of pine, the swish of tall grass, the chirrup of crickets, the rough feel of bark beneath my fingertips, the feel of the sun, and the taste of fresh air; together, in harmony, elicit a sense of wonder and awe in me.  What is this phenomenon of wonder and where do these feelings come from?
          
           Kant has a theory, mainly in regards to beauty, but I think it can just as easily be related to wonder.  When we are struck with the beauty of a place, experience, or situation, wonder is born.  This feeling almost detaches us from reality.  In fact we can only experience true awe and wonder when we have no purpose for the thing which produces our wonder.  Using beauty as an example; if I view a flower and see it as beautiful, it means I have no desired purpose for that flower.  However as soon as I decide to pick it and bring it to someone, it loses its beauty to me, and I lose my sense of wonder along with it.  For wonder is elicited with purposefulness without purpose. We perceive that the flower has a purpose, but one that is not to our own ends. 
         
           True wonder then exists completely within the individual.  It actually is a moment when we are free from ourselves.  When have no immediate interest in the object of our attention, then our desires have no place in our experience.  Normally we are enslaved by our desires, but when we feel wonder and awe we step away from our selfishness for just a moment.  After the experience one can reflect and analyze the feelings that transpired, but by this time our reflection only pertains to the memory of what we felt.  In order to feel a sense of awe, to become awful as it were, we must try to experience without purposeful intention.  This is very hard to do, and that is why wonder strikes us unawares.  We can be completely focused on the task at hand, look up, and be completely wowed by what we behold.  That again, results because we didn’t expect it, and we didn’t use it; we just experienced it.  
        
           Wonder plays an important role in our existence.  It helps us realize that there is something more to our world then our independent lives.  When we are struck with awe, we bare witness to reality in a new and profound way.  We catch a glimpse of how everything and anything reflects God's glory and majesty.

"We need a renaissance of wonder.  We need to renew, in our hearts and in our souls, the deathless dream, the eternal poetry, the perennial sense that life is miracle and magic." -E. Merril Root

Comments

  1. NaomiSeptember 23, 2010 at 2:15 PM

    I love this post. And I love that quote! I am going to steal it from you and respost it somewhere...

    I too often stand amazed in the wonder of Creation! Praise God for his majestic works and powerful, creative hand.

    -Naomi

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Favor of God!!

'God loves everyone the same, but he favors some more than others.'  This was my Facebook status today and it has generated a few responses which is great!  It is rather an offensive thought to many Christians, since we are culturally preconditioned towards 'sameness'. The church has been molded to fit this ideal which is actually contrary to God's plan for the body of Christ. It seems wrong to say that God would choose favorites.  In fact Romans 2:11 says that God does not choose favorites; however, it is clear that this passage is talking about favoritism in terms of ethnicity and/or social status. But scripture reveals that God does show his favor in different ways.  We will look at two of those ways; 1. Reward for good works and 2. Spiritual Anointing. I have a friend who was given a diamond from the Lord just a couple days ago. I have heard testimonies about this happening but have never seen it myself. When she showed it to me I was still skeptical but ...
5 comments
Read more

The Purpose of the Church (1)

      There is another transition occurring within the church; and at a time like this it is important to look at scripture to try and understand God's intended purpose for it.  This understanding has become very important for me.  Here at Concordia College I witness a strange dichotomy when it comes to ministries on campus.  The campus ministry itself, led by the pastors on campus, has become very bland.  Sermons and teachings revolve around us instead of around God.  This 'church' seems to be more influenced by the World then it does  God, and it is reflected in where they search to find truth and how this changes the interworkings of the community.          On the other hand there is an 'emergent' church on campus as well.  These student led bible studies and worship services, have a different character then the more common 'Campus Ministry.'  Here it seems the students are more...
3 comments
Read more

"In Jesus Name"

"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:13)." "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst (Matthew 18:20)."    We have a funny way of viewing this passage sometimes.  In our prayer life, whether we are asking for something or declaring something we say 'In Jesus Name' at the end.  There is nothing essentially wrong with that but we often times do it as if stamping that statement on the end of our prayer validates and give authority to what we said. This is a sad representation of what the scriptures are saying.    When Jesus talks about asking in 'my name' he literally means to, 'ask as me'.  Because of Jesus we can relate with God and the world with the same authority that He had.  When our identity is rooted in what Jesus accomplished on the cross we have accepted our right standing with God.  We have confidence in the prese...
5 comments
Read more