I was on a family ski trip. I learned something new. No! I didn’t learn how to ski moguls. I learned how to awe. Yes, awe.
This was several years back during my master’s program in Jewish Studies. One of my professors had assigned a book which I threw in my suitcase as I packed. Talk about serendipity! I started reading it while vacationing among the mountains of south central Colorado. Abraham Joshua Heschel, in God in Search of Man, stated that we humans must learn to “awe.” What he meant was that we need to develop our ability to stop whatever we are doing and behold things with wonder, reverence, and appreciation. I looked around with new eyes at the splendid and breathtaking Colorado landscape. I saw the snowy mountains and the deep blue sky as if for the very first time. My soul soared and I felt a closeness to God. I knew exactly what the author was talking about.
I had been at that same resort several times before in the very same snowy setting and I had always appreciated the majesty of the place. But on that morning, I began to “awe” as well. I pondered from where all that beauty and majesty had sprung. I also thought about what it represented. Gradually, I could “see” beyond the mountains. I could feel God. This brought on a certain understanding and, most importantly, a much needed feeling of serenity. I’ve practiced “awing” quite a bit since that morning and I’ve gotten quite good at it. I, hyperactive ME, have actually learned to pause once in awhile. Now I take less for granted and find myself offering spontaneous prayers of thanksgiving.
Awing does need to be practiced. It’s not something that comes naturally since humans are pretty self-absorbed and always rushed. Just as reading Heschel raised my consciousness, we all need to put ourselves on an “awing” exercise program. If you are wondering how your life would be better if you got really good at this skill, consider this: From awing comes appreciation and from appreciation come gratitude and humility. As Rabbi Heschell says, “ The beginning of wisdom is awe.”
This is not to say that awing is to be reserved only for situations that are big and dramatic. Though that would clearly be a place for a beginner to start his “awing” program, Heschel makes the point that there is something sacred in every human being and in every event. I now “awe” at a baby’s tiny fingers, at an athlete’s perfect movements and at my own gift of sight. It becomes a worthwhile goal for each and every one of us, therefore, to learn to sense wonder even in small things. Again quoting from God in Search of Man, “awe is a way of being in rapport with the mystery of all reality.”
Contrast this with the human tendencies to obsess about our own petty problems and to rush through each day in a frenzy.
Learning to awe is a useful antidote to negativism. The ability to “awe” well also gives us the gift of perspective , thereby diminishing our feelings of personal outrage at minor inconveniences and increasing our gratitude for our blessings. When we “awe,” we not only appreciate the miracles and marvels, but we see the grandeur of the world and our own relative smallness. People who can “awe” are seldom self-important. Instead, they realize their relative insignificance and tend, as our sages tell us, to be happy “each with his/her own portion, ”sameach b’ chelko.“ Awing” also slows us down. Not only can we SMELL the roses, but we become more serene from the experience.
Awing does have some serious side-effects: tranquillity, humility and sanctity. When you really get good at it, life takes on a different twist. You will become aware of the wonder and holiness in most everything and you will be able to see them. Holiness where you might least expect it? I am reminded of the prayer we traditionally say upon going to the bathroom for the first time each morning. We give thanks for our orifices. How lucky we are that they work: How easy to take such a thing for granted, or to debase it. How marvelous to see awe in the process and to give thanks to God.
Please try this exercise. First thing each morning for the next four or five days, step outside to pause and to awe. Then move the exercise indoors. Finding things at which to marvel is easy if you try. You’ll be richer for it.
cherplus 