Experiencing Amazement

I wonder when was the last time you felt or experienced the feeling of being amazed by something? Something that may shock you or astonish you unexpectedly. It may be something that you can't quite believe what you're seeing or hearing.

The Psychologist, Rick Hanson (Ph.D.) at Berkley University, suggests experiencing amazement is not only important, rather these “Wow” moments, that may fill us with a sense of wonder, surprise, awe, delight and gratitude, are vitally important to us and can transform our attitude towards others and to the world in which we live.

And there are a lot of things that can birth this sense of awe and wonder within us: It might have been the birth of a new born baby; falling in love; or our attention being captivated by the night sky, for example. These mind shifting moments can make us stop; and we suddenly reseal that the busy context of our way of life, is somehow lacking the importance or significance we had assumed.

I experienced one of those moments some years ago while attending a retreat at the Wangapeka Study and Retreat Centre located in the foothills of the Southern Alps in the South Island of New Zealand. One night we were invited to visit a neighbour who had a large telescope permanently set-up outdoors and to look at the stars. Being so far away from civilization, the darkness of the night was absolute, the stars were brilliant, and the silence was broken only by the noise of birds or animals. Few vehicles ventured down the road that ended at the site of the old gold mining town of Wangapeka. This meant that the situation was ideal for Star-gazing.

When it was my turn to look through the telescope I found it absolutely mind-blowing as the small pinpricks of starlight took on a whole new perspective. I remember one such star that the telescope was trained on the star called “Betelgeuse” – it is the brightest star in the night sky and sits 430 light years away from planet Earth. It is part of the Orian nebular and its physical size is estimated as being 640 times the size of our Sun!

What I also found amazing was that the God who created that star, also created human life – and we all live participating in that miracle!

For example, I was reading an article online recently that said the “average” Human body has 37 trillion cells and about 330 billion of these cells are being replaced every day! Which means that in 80 to 100 days, 30 trillion cells in our body will have replenished—and all this is occurring without our awareness!

And that is often the issue – isn't it. Our lives and minds can become so focused on the demands of life and the assumptions we carry around in our heads that we miss out on what is happening around us – and we are not alone in that.

Recently, I was reading again a book by the Franciscan Bonaventure. He was master of philosophy and theology at the University of Paris, Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor and rose to become one of the most prominent academics of his time and also took over leadership of the Franciscan Order after St Francis of Assisi died. Due to his busy life as an academic and overseeing the Franciscan Order that had its own issues, he ended up burnt out and decided he needed time out. So he went back to Mount Laverna where St Francis had received his Stigmata. While there he was inspired to write his inspirational book: “The Soul’s Journey into God” [1259] In it he wrote that the “eyes of our souls should be opened and enlightened”. And the first step – is to begin learn to “see the whole of the physical world around us as a mirror”. He suggested that why this was so important was because it when “we learn to contemplate the world we live in, we will discover the immense power, wisdom and goodness of our Creator”. “Learn to Look”, he said – with open eyes, mind and heart “and be amazed”!

In the Gospel reading set for this coming Sunday (Mark 6:1-13) we find Jesus teaching something similar. He is visiting his local Synagogue and the people were astounded with his simple wisdom. What puzzled them was because they knew he was only a carpenter's son – and because they had it all sorted they were blind and deaf to the wisdom Jesus had to share. Which meant there was nothing Jesus could do.

Thinking about this reminded me of two quotes. The first is something the Trappist monk Thomas Merton once made:

“To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence.”

The second is a quote associated to several different people:

“What the mind can conceive, the heart believe, I can achieve”.

Jesus was interested in opening people's minds. There was no future in a religion that focuses rules and rituals. Instead, Jesus taught what is important is a faith that comes not from our heads but from our hearts.

Love God – Love your neighbour – love your self–

That is something amazing – isn't it!

Phil

2nd July, 2024