When I write the word awesome, I always want to accentuate the letters “awe.” When I experience something as ‘awesome,’ what I am feeling first and foremost is the awe and wonder of whatever I am engaging with. When I hear a song that touches my heart and reminds me of a powerful memory, it is a moment full of awe and wonder at going back in time in a visceral way. -Aisha Hauser (CLF)
What is AWEsome to you?
For I am a creature of the Universe, small but infinite
A momentary body in the sea of life, and also the sea itself
I am a gathered bit of energy, and one who gathers
A creation and a creator
Let me not hold too tightly to one form and lose the other
-from “Imperfectly Divine,” by Alex Klingenberg (https://www.uua.org/worship/words/prayer/imperfectly-divine)
How do you simultaneously pay attention to things both large and small today?
Everything begins on the verge of awareness. The dawn is not and then is. Sleep is and then is not. In between is the awakening. The passage of thin light, between, breaks open the day. The passage of thin sound, between, flows into the day. Too soon the numbing rumble of traffic swells, the day glares. -George Kimmich Beach
Notice the awe at the edges, margins, and verges of life today.
The times I have found myself experiencing awe are when I witness people coming to the aid of other people without hesitation. Back when I spent my summers working at a boat launch, an intense storm hit the lake, and suddenly every boat was trying to exit the water at once, creating traffic and mayhem. I was in awe of how naturally bystanders and boaters organized and helped each other to get as many people and boats out of the water as efficiently and safely as possible. More recently, an uninsured friend of mine hurt his hand badly working on the farm where we live and had to get surgery. The surrounding farm community came together in under a week to raise the substantial amount of money he needed. I am always in awe of how communities care for each other and show up for each other without a thought. -Marin Smith (CLF)
When have you seen human community do something awesome?
Awe is the result of seeing the beauty in the average. We exist in a space of consuming so many things, but when we take a moment to really take in something as simple as a leaf, we can appreciate all that it takes to create it. -JeKaren Olaoya (CLF)
Notice the beauty in something ordinary today.
