“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” ~ Albert Einstein
When I think of awe, I think of the feeling I get when I stand humbled and amazed before the ocean, watching the waves roll in from a seemingly endless pool of blue, gray, and white. It’s the same feeling I’ve experienced over the past couple of weeks as I have caught myself staring up at the sky watching distant lightening and listening to cracks of thunder. It’s a feeling of amazement and gratitude, united with a pinch of nervousness.
One dictionary definition of awe is: “a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder”.
However you experience awe, one thing seems certain: awe stops you in your tracks and brings you back to the present moment.
Awe has a way of pulling us away from our current melodrama, suffering, or daydreaming, and grabbing our full attention… enticing us to be in this moment and not miss it.
Recently I had the honor of officiating the wedding of two dear friends. After they walked down the aisle, before anything else, I invited them to take a pause and take in the moment. I watched as the bride looked at me, looked at the community of her loved ones, looked at the lake behind us, and finally looked at her soon to be husband. Her eyes filled with tears as in awe, she took in all of the beauty and love within and around her. Her awe was so vulnerable and overpowering, she finally looked at me and whispered, “stop it” as if to say: continue on with the service, it’s too much to stand here and feel all of this wonderment at once, I can’t take it, please go on.
That, to me, is the fear that comes with awe.. it’s a fear that in our humanness we won’t be able to handle all of the beauty and majesty available to us… and in truth, at times, awe does take our breath away and knock us to our knees. Perhaps, that’s okay though. Perhaps, that’s just the place we need to be in, in order to express gratitude to our Higher Power or the Universe for all that we are blessed to witness.
If awe is experienced solely in the present moment, it can be hard to find unless we intentionally slow down, pause, and pay attention from time to time.
That’s my invitation to you this week: slow down, be present, open yourself up to awe and give gratitude when awe arises.
Blessings,
Nikki Holm, MA
Chaplain
