John B. Bingham invites us to contemplate the goodness of God and feel awe by acting to believe, recording experiences, and seeking “thin” places.
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My wife, Amy, loves new experiences. In 2017 she convinced our family that we needed to travel five hours from Provo to eastern Idaho to see the full solar eclipse in person. We got organized and took off driving to the nearest zone of totality-the ideal place to observe a solar eclipse. We drove in bumper-to-bumper traffic along what are usually empty roads. We found what I am sure was the last parking spot in all of Idaho and then herded the kids past revelers who looked like they had been camped there for days or weeks. All I could think was, “Is this really worth it? We could have watched this online!”
We found a place to sit and squinted through our overpriced cardboard glasses as the partial eclipse began. Initially, I have to admit that I was pretty underwhelmed. But I watched and waited.
Suddenly the light around us began to change rapidly. The birds stopped chirping. The temperature dropped. The laughter, music, and talking all around us quieted. “It’s happening!” people started to say out loud. The darkness deepened. We took off our cardboard glasses and stared upward, looking directly at the sun that was not there.
It is hard to describe what we saw. Even the most detailed pictures do not do it justice. What is more difficult to express is how I felt. I got goosebumps and found myself getting choked up. I stood there in the quiet darkness with my wife, my kids, and hundreds of onlookers-our eyes fixed on the sky-and marveled in awe at this remarkable heavenly expression. For one minute and forty-five seconds we stared in silent, reverent wonder.
I experienced something during the eclipse that I did not anticipate: a spiritual surprise, an unexpected connection to the divine.
The mood of the crowd was different as we walked quietly back toward the car. A couple stopped us and asked, “What did you think?” The woman’s eyes were still wet with tears. “Wasn’t it awesome?” she asked.
Divine Awe
Awesome. We use that word a lot these days.
We use it to describe the taste of food: “That sandwich was awesome!”
We use it to acknowledge a gift or an act of service: “Hey, I got you that book; I’ll drop it by your apartment later tonight.” “Awesome!”
We use it to affirm that we are willing to do something: “Do you want to go to the devotional with me?” “Yeah, awesome!”
In fact, some people think everything is awesome!
Although we may overuse the word awesome and the way we use it in everyday talk may take away from its true meaning, the root of the word awesome-awe-is actually quite inspiring.
Today I am going to define awe as profound reverence, a personal and unexpected reaction to seeing God at work. It is seeing or witnessing something inspiring and feeling the Spirit touch our hearts to confirm truth, expand knowledge, or reaffirm heavenly love. It is the divine surprise I felt for those 105 seconds as we stood in the zone of totality of the solar eclipse.
Do you remember feeling a bit of God’s magnificence when perhaps you did not expect it?
Maybe when you experienced heart-stopping art.
Maybe when you looked into a microscope or a telescope and saw new worlds.
Maybe when you came to a critical point in a breathtaking piece of music.
Maybe when you finally grasped a complex idea with a flash of understanding.
These moments of surprise are manifestations of Heavenly Father’s love for us, His children. They are ways that God both connects with and nourishes us. Today I would like to help us find, recognize, and cherish awe in our lives, particularly when we are in a spiritual eclipse. I want us to come away from our time together ready to more regularly embrace the astonishing goodness that God offers us.
Experiences with awe change us. They cause us to ask questions and move us to learn. Awe is full of paradoxes. It invokes vastness and makes us feel small-we are nothing compared to God. At the same time, awe makes us feel God’s power and love-we mean everything to God...
26 авг 2024
