It’s summertime in Drexel Hill.
Suzanne and I have lived all over this country.
We have lived on the West Coast, in the Deep South, in the South West and the Mid West. And we can tell you that no one treats summer time like the folks here in the Delaware Valley.
It’s like someone long ago decided that summertime was a time to do something different.
Summertime in Philadelphia offers most of us time to work on our awe-fullness.
In the play, A Search for Life in an Intelligent Universe, one of Lily Tomlin’s characters turns to the audience and speaks of a need to have more awe-robic exercises.
I picked up on that right away, because I see that as one of the tasks of the church in our society today.
A popular psychologist writes:
“One of the psychological tragedies of adult American life is the loss of the sense of awe.”
To a young child (three and younger), every experience is new. The toddler is curious and awestruck by almost everything. We can accurately say that when we are children, we viewed the experiences of being alive as "awesome."
All the world's religions recognize the value of viewing life with a "beginners mind."
Buddhist mystics seek to experience every moment of their lives as "new."
Christians call this attitude as viewing all of life as "sacred."
It is called a "sense of wonder."
The kids call it "awesome."
Others call it "joyful living."
When we grow older however, this sense of wonder or sacredness of each moment seems to diminish, doesn’t it?
We begin to think of ourselves as "cool" when we are surprised by nothing.
We take everything for granted – and sometimes go off seeking a new and more stimulating novelty.
If we recaptured our child-like sense of awe at all life experiences, we wouldn’t have to seek stimulation in the huge, the best, the dramatic, the tragic, the ecstatic.
We can remember the sacredness of our being alive and the awesomeness of Life itself.
There is evidence that we can recover our attitude of awe . . . our sense of the sacred.
We can begin by recalling moments that have been truly "awe inspiring" for us:
the birth of our baby, an unexpected healing, an event of nature, a "peak experience."
I do think of our church as an awe-robic experience.
I do think we can work at rediscovering an awe-fullness.
And perhaps the time will come when folks will refer to us as that awe-full church of all those awe-full people with that awe-full preacher.
The psychologist and I have come up with a few awe-robic exercises to help develop and cultivate this awe-fullness in your life.
1. Attend a church like Christ Church on a regular basis. Here we acknowledge the fullness and sacredness of life and work on a thankful and joyful response.
2. Before eating any food, think about how the food got to your table.
How did it get to the store?
How many people were involved in
the making of the food?...farmers, harvesters, manufacturers,
processors, distributors, clerks, deliverers, cooks and servers.
Go further back to the seed, soil and rain.
Consider it all and let your mind say "wow" to all that went into your first mouthful of food.
3. Go outside on some clear night and gaze at the moon and stars. Realize that some of the light from those stars actually left the star--surface millions and millions of years ago. And you are seeing it for the first time now.
4. Observe the beauty of a flower. How did all that color, shape and texture develop from that little seed or bulb? What is the force that resulted in such a beautiful and delicate creation?
5. Consider your body and how it works. It is truly amazing and complex in its anatomy and function.
6. Hold a common object in your hand a tool, dish, pen, and really look at it, thinking about all that went into its design, production, material and original idea in the human mind.
7. Look into the face of another human being and become aware of the marvel that is human life.
Well, you get the idea.
With such an attitude, your experience of every moment of your life can become joyful – truly awesome.
I hope you have an awe-full summer
Clyde Griffith, July 31, 2016
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