Awe Walking

 

The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

I learned a new concept this week. It's called "awe walking." Apparently it has been around for a few years but it's new to me. At least, the term is new to me, the concept of experiencing awe is old hat. 

As believers we, at SPPC, live in awe of our Lord every day. Our hymns resound with wonder.  "Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder/consider all the worlds Thy hands have made." "The heaven's are telling the glory of God." "Lo, God is here! Let us adore," "He plants His footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm." Our worship and praise and prayer are all committed to an awe-ful God.

Being filled with awe is not new, but now that the psychologists and scientists have caught up to the priests and prophets, awe is in vogue.

The psychologists describe awe as "the feeling of wonder and amazement at being in the presence of something vast that transcends one’s current under-standing (Keltner & Haidt, 2003).  They go on to say that we often experience awe when viewing nature, experiencing virtuosity (think music/art/athleticism. . .), magnanimity and religious experiences.

Many of us have experienced awe when standing amid the giant trees of Cathedral Forest, or watching a display of lightning forking across a gun-metal grey sky. Those who saw the Northern Lights earlier this summer were awe-struck.

Compassion can elicit awe. Earlier this month I saw an interview with Brian Oates, manager of an RV park near Valemont, B.C. He had opened his grounds to those fleeing the fire in Jasper, offering food, water, shelter and compassion simply because folk needed it. His facility was stretched beyond capacity but there was no end to his capacity to love his fellow Canadians in need. 

Such kindness and generosity fill me with awe.

The reason "awe-walking" has become a "thing" is because scientists have discovered its beneficial effects on physical and mental health. Researcher Dacher Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, says “It’s hard to think of a single thing that you can do for your mind and body that’s better than a little dose of awe.” 

He, and his team of researchers found that awe can

• reduce stress,  
• lessen inflammation, 
• stimulate creativity, 
• and make you happy.

My experience of awe usually includes the vastness of something,  But Keltner and company say I needn't climb to the top of John Dean park or even hike up Horth Hill to find an awe-inspiring moment.

An awe walk can be a fifteen minute excursion around your own neighbourhood. Of course, you need to disconnect from electronic devices and quiet the imp in your brain that keeps exhorting you to get on with the to-do list and stop wasting time wandering aimlessly. 

Once I've cleared my mind, the aim is to open my senses to the wonders around. And forget about counting steps.

So, here is what I found in my fifteen minutes.

       

•  the perfect symmetry of the petals in this dahlia fill me with awe. Each small petal, perfectly curled into itself, each curl nestled precicesly into the next. I counted up to 200 of them, but there are more. The detail is exquisite, and fills me with awe.

• I experienced tactile pleasure when I drew my fingers over a soapstone carving at an art gallery. I love the cool, smooth, curve of the sculpture. I saw lovely paintings which did not inspire me with awe but must have done so for the artists who painted them.
• I heard a toddler in the street having a screaming fit. A woman coming toward me laughed and said "I remember those days." We shared a smile and went on our way. I enjoyed the brief connection with a stranger. Awe is something that takes you out of yourself, so maybe that little moment counts, but I don't think so.

• Then, just as my time ran out, I found it. Vast, awesome, spirit-lifting, on a street corner in Sidney. An enormous, cedar tree. It's trunk twisted and gnarled. It's branches spreading and dense. Awe!

I headed home with a heart full of gratitude and wonder. 

But, God is full of surprises. I'd put away the camera when I came upon this sign in a shop window. 

May you all have an awe-filled week.