Professor of Jewish Mysticism and beloved author, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, said this: “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… Get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”
This Lent, we are invited to consider that one of the most important gifts we can give is to be “purveyors of awe.” A purveyor is someone who spreads or promotes a particular idea or who deals in a particular good. Our quest in this season is to promote a state of awe about the lives we’ve been given and revel in the sheer miracles of life that surround us. This is a spiritual journey in the tradition of biblical poets and of mystics. In our modern day, researchers who study wellbeing know that when we cultivate elements that deepen our awe of life, our appreciation for others, our dedication to the good, we live longer, more purposeful and more joyful lives. In a time when we are exposed to the weight of the world by the messages around us, we will spend time on a journey of being exposed to the wonder of the world.
The “wide eye of wonder” creates optimal conditions for awe. When we open our senses to the “extraordinariness of the everyday ordinary,” we have begun the journey to a deeper existence than what resides at surface-level. Wonder can be an antidote to anxiety and depression, pulling us instead toward the awe-filled knowledge that there is more than meets the eye, there are solutions in the midst of problems, possibilities where we sense only dead-ends. Let us pray:
Awe-inspiring God,
we come together this day because we need to be reminded
to see through the lens of wonder.
Too often, we relegate what is always amazing to what is ever familiar,
forgetting that there are mysteries and miracles in the ordinariness of our lives.
Open us to perceive anew.
Inspire us to receive our surroundings with awe.
Forgive us when we focus only on what’s wrong
rather than allowing the right and good to show us the way forward.
Be with us on this journey
as we seek again to marvel at your works.
Weekly scripture – Psalm 107:1-9, Psalm 139, & Luke 13:31-35
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