The Awe of God is the Beginning of Wisdom

Last week the question was: “Do you see this world, this life, as essentially good or as essentially evil?” Perhaps what we were missing from this discussion is that the designation of what is good and what is evil is relative. It is based on the observer. It comes from a human centric vision. When we seek to decide what is good and what is evil, we are placing ourselves at the center of the universe. We imagine that the universe spins around our knowledge and experiences. We tell God, we know better than you do.  

The fact of the matter is that God cares not about what we think of the life he created. Life is what God says life is. The designation of what is good and what is evil, therefore, is a human enterprise, Good and evil are on a continuum that is within the dominion of humans. 

The dominion of God is grace. It is hard to define what grace is, but we fail to see it precisely because we are stuck in the realm of good and evil. What we fail to see is that every single day, we make the exact same choice that our spiritual parents had made in Eden. Every single day, we choose to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and we refuse to eat from the tree of life. It is a deadly choice, because in doing so we reject the grace of God. Instead of Adam, God wants to be our spiritual father. If we choose God as our father, Jesus promised us abundant life.

So, how can we see less of ourselves and more of God? How can we put God at the center of the universe and not our egos? Today, I would like to emphatically offer you an answer: find AWE. 

For this section, I will be heavily quoting from the book, AWE: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life, by Dacher Keltner. 

Let’s first start by defining awe: Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world. 

Vastness can be physical- for example, when you stand next to a 350-foot-tall tree or hear a singer’s voice or electric guitar fill the space of an arena. Vastness can be temporal (related to time), as when a laugh or scent transports you back in time to the sounds or aromas of your childhood. Vastness can be semantic, or about ideas, most notably when an epiphany integrates scattered beliefs and unknowns into a coherent thesis about the world. 

Vastness can be challenging, unsettling, and destabilizing. In evoking awe, it reveals that our current knowledge is not up to the task of making sense of what we have encountered. And so, in awe, we go in search of new forms of understanding. 

Awe is about our relation to the vast mysteries of life. 

Keltner is a professor of psychology at UC Berkley. He has been scientifically studying awe for a few years. He started by collecting stories of awe from around the world and categorizing them into eight wonders of life:

“What do you think most commonly led people around the world to feel awe? Nature? Spiritual practice? Listening to music? In fact, it was other people’s courage, kindness, strength, or overcoming. Around the world, we are most likely to feel awe when moved by moral beauty. One kind of moral beauty is the courage that others show when encountering suffering. The second wonder of life is collective effervescence. Collective effervescence is a sociological concept introduced by French sociologist Émile Durkheim in his work The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912). It refers to the intense energy, excitement, and emotional unity experienced by a group of people when they come together for a shared purpose or ritual. Durkheim believed that this shared emotional experience strengthens social bonds and creates a sense of belonging and solidarity within a group. Perhaps this explains the strength of the collective religious experience. The shared rituals and symbols within a religious community create a powerful sense of group unity. Think of the last time you attended a baptism, a powerful symbol. It is like watching someone getting born again. The same goes for weddings, funerals, and communion. 

But collective effervescence is not limited to the religious experience. Fans cheering their teams in sports events, moving in unison at a concert or music festival, or shouting during large protests all create this feeling of awe. 

The third life wonder is nature. Natural awe can come from cataclysmic events-earthquakes, thunderstorms, tsunamis, wildfires, and hurricanes. But, that’s not all, the night sky, mountains, canyons, large sequoias, running through vast sand dunes and majestic rock formations all fill us with natural awe. 

Next, music offered a fourth wonder of life. Think of the last time you sang your favorite hymnal, or attended a favorite musical band, or quietly listened to an eloquent piece of classical music. 

Visual design proved to be a fifth wonder of life. Buildings, dams, paintings, or perhaps the ingenuity of AI design. 

Religious and spiritual awe were the sixth wonder of life. mystical experiences here are similar to the conversion of Saul. These mystical awe experiences were not as common as we would imagine, given that we are always searching for grace, nirvana, etc.. I wonder if this is because either we or the author or most likely both, misunderstand mystical awe.  Sensations that arise during mystical awe involve touch, feeling embraced, a warm presence, and an awareness of being seen, clues to the deep origins of the emotion of awe. 

Stories of life and death is the seventh wonder and a common one. We are awestruck by how in an instant life comes out of the womb. And on the other end of the life-death cycle when you observe a living human breathing their last breaths and their life ceasing. 

The last wonder of life is epiphanies-when we suddenly understand essential truths about life. We are awestruck by philosophical insights, scientific discoveries, metaphysical ideas, personal realizations, mathematical equations, and sudden disclosures (such as a wife leaving her husband for his best friend). 

The etymology of the word “awe” traces back eight hundred years to the middle English “ege” (pronounced eh-yeh) and old norse “agi,” both of which refer to fear, dread, horror, and terror. We need to remember that that was a time of plagues, famines, public torture, religious inquisition, war, and short life expectancy. What was vast and mysterious was violence and death.  Even today, we may define some aspects of awe in terms related to fear. I think this is important for us here in this class because the bible extolls us to fear the lord. Proverbs 9:10 and Psalm 111:10 say that “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.” Fear here is better interpreted as awe, a feeling of reverence and respect to God while wisdom here is interpreted as going beyond mere human knowledge; to understand life deep mysteries, and to live in harmony with God’s will. That it is the beginning of wisdom suggests a starting point.The bible says awe is the starting point to knowing God. 

Can awe do that? What does experiencing awe do to us? 

It seems that awe can take a stab at the ego or default self. This self is focused on how you are distinct from others, independent, in control, and oriented toward competitive advantage. It has been amplified by the rise of individualism and materialism, and no doubt was less prominent during other time periods (e.g., in Indigenous cultures thousands of years ago). Today, this default self keeps you on track in achieving your goals and urges you to rise in the ranks of the world, all essential to your survival and thriving. 

When our default self reigns too strongly, though, and we are too focused on ourselves, anxiety, rumination, depression, and self-criticism can overtake us. An overactive self can undermine the collaborative efforts and goodwill of our communities. Many of today’s social ills arise out of an overactive self, augmented by self-obsessed digital technologies. Awe it would seem, quiets this urgent voice of the default self. 

People experiencing awe portray the self as dissolving, or vanishing. It is as if our egos die during these encounters with awe. Here’s an awe experience from Margaret Fuller, whose treatise Woman in the Nineteenth Century is considered the first major feminist work in the United States:

I saw there was no self; that selfishness was all folly, and the result of circumstance; that it was only because I thought the self real that I suffered; that I had only to live in the idea of the all; and all was mine. 

Keltner and collaborators studied this effect of awe on the self. Let me describe to you one of these experiments. A researcher stood near a lookout that offers expansive views of Yosemite National Park. Another researcher was stationed at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, a famous tourist destination. Both researchers approached people at these two destinations and asked them to draw themselves on a sheet of paper and write the word “me” next to their drawing. People in San Francisco drew a large figure of themselves in the center of the paper with the word Me written in big capital letters. People in front of the Yosemite Valley, however, drew themselves as diminutive figures at the side of the paper with the word Me written in small lower-case letters. 

We have discussed before how grace supersedes our will. Grace is following God’s will. It is very difficult for us to do that. We are confident that we are in control of our lives. This conviction that we have agency and freedom has many benefits but can blind us to a bigger truth: that our lives are shaped by vast forces, like our genetics and family, class background, historical period, or culture we happen to be born into. It seems that awe can help us in this regard. Awe invokes humility, and with humility, we start to see how much of our lives is not dictated by us and by our choices. We start to see the will of God playing out in our lives. During an experience of awe, and with our ego out of the way, we start to see how we are connected with others, connected to nature, and perhaps intimately connected to God and the universe. Surprisingly, when our lives are not dependent on us, that gives us inner peace! Awe also makes us better people, it empowers sacrifice and inspires us to give that most precious of our resources, time. 

Before we end this section, I just want to give you a glimpse of how we, and our bodies, experience and express awe. This is something evolutionarily conserved. Jane Goodall observes this in a video titled “waterfall displays” where a solitary chimpanzee approaches a roaring waterfall. He piloerects (fluffs up his fur). He moves in swaying, rhythmic motions, swinging from one branch to another near the rushing river. He pushes large rocks into the river. At the end of this “dance” he sits quietly, absorbed in the flow of water.

When we are in the presence of vastness and awe, we experience goosebumps, chills, and tear up. We have vocal bursts that include sighs, laughs, shrieks, growls, oohs, aaahs, mmms, and whooooas. It is important to point out that these are universal expressions of awe. They transcend culture, language, religion, history, and even species as we pointed out with the chimpanzee. 

What about us gathered here in this class? What about our religions? Can we incorporate an understanding of awe in our religious practice?

The bible is an awe filled book. From Genesis to Revelations, the bible is dripping with awe. We all have our favorite moments. Elijah and the still small voice, the touch of the angel that breaks Jacob’s hip, Delilah shaving the head, and power, of Samson, the repentant king David composing Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Just imagine the experience of the crowds at Jesus’ time. The lame walking, the blind seeing, and the dead alive. But the bible says that it was not just the miracles that inspired awe from the crowds, his teachings on the sermon on the mount did as well. Matthew 7:28-29 “And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Other translations read: the people were awestruck at his teachings.

Imagine one day going on a hike up a hill for a picnic with your family and friends. A man is standing there, preaching. This may not have been a strange sight at the time. Yet, you have never heard anything like this before:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Whoooa! While writing this I couldn’t help but think that our religions don’t emphasize awe. That comes at a huge disservice to our spiritual lives. God is full of awe. The actions of God in the bible inspire tremendous awe. The questions of God in the bible inspire a close sister of awe, wonder. Both awe and wonder are able to make us feel more connected, they transform us to be more open-minded and loving people, they give us inner peace and give our lives a magnificent meaning and a sense of cosmic belonging. 

Do you experience awe in your daily life? Where do you find this awe? Does being in awe count as worship? If the answer is yes, then is that how the non-religious worship God? And, I would really appreciate your help with this question, how is awe related to grace?

David: I once saw music defined as “a device to inflate the soul,” and for some time, it actually made me enjoy music less. But I’ve gotten over it and can again feel the goosebumps when listening to Beethoven. Goosebumps are a sign of awe, but is it genuine awe? Is it different from the awe I (like Michael) feel in reading the Beatitudes, which to me are the most beautiful words ever written? They are awesome, absolutely, and they seem less engineered, less manufactured, compared to music or—say— imposing old cathedrals.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t build cathedrals. They build simple Kingdom Halls, which are nice but functional and plain. They have no spires, and no altar to speak of; they put out a few flowers to look pretty, and that’s it. I don’t know, but I wonder if the purpose of that plainness isn’t precisely to avoid inducing a false, manufactured sense of awe as a cathedral does, leaving the congregation free to be awed by the content of the scriptures, such as the words of the Beatitudes, alone.

Carolyn: I feel awe every time I watch a butterfly turn from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. I am in awe at the unfolding process of becoming. When the butterfly emerges and tries to pump up its wings, I’m in awe. I feel the cycle of life. I feel the same awe when I hear wonderful music that touches my heart and soul, or when I see a group of children just playing, laughing, and tumbling in the grass. There’s awe in giant mountains and the vastness of the sea. There’s awe in the Beatitudes and the 23rd Psalm. It’s all there, in the Bible. I can become so overwhelmed with awe and wonder at what God has given us. And I think grace is connected to this awe.

C-J: I agree. For me, it reminds me that we are spirit beings, and the shell we are in is very temporal. What we consider reality is perhaps an illusion. But the awe comes from being aware that we are always in the presence of God, every moment.

Reinhard: When people don’t know about a law, maybe they don’t realize they’re violating it. Thinking about the first generation of people, in Noah’s time: Out of so many people—maybe tens of millions—how come only Noah was found righteous in the eyes of God? Humanity was wicked back then, and that’s why God all but wiped it out. I still wonder how God communicated with these early people. It was probably through oral tradition, but we know very little beyond the prohibition to not eat the fruit in Adam and Eve’s story. Not much information is recorded.

I still wonder why only Noah was found righteous, and Job. It was not until Abraham’s time, when his descendants were chosen, that things became clearer with the giving of the written law—the moral law, especially. To me, this is how we separate the wicked from the righteous, by how we follow the law. Looking at the history of mankind, from creation until Jesus, we see how God interacted with humans.

When Jesus came, He showed the true intention of God’s will for us, as humans, to worship Him. This is how I see it, how God refined His law and purpose for humanity. He showed us how the wicked would be separated from the righteous. This is how God has dealt with humanity from creation until now. We’ve been given enough rules and laws about how to relate to God. It’s too bad some people don’t know about God. It’s even worse when people know about God but don’t follow what He asks. That’s why we discuss these things and strive to be God’s people, even if we’re not perfect.

C-J: I think that as a human construct, we say we have a relationship with God, but I believe it’s more that God has a relationship with us. I didn’t create God; God created me. Salvation follows the same order. It’s not just that God loves me; it’s that God is love. God is the Creator, the one who transforms me. It’s not that I have an epiphany; it’s that there’s this relationship where God knows each of us individually and as part of the collective whole, His creation. He comes to us through experiences like a waterfall, the sweetness of pure air, or watching children play. It’s like the transformation of a worm into a beautiful butterfly, set free to fly. Though brief, the butterfly’s life is complete, just as our lives are brief. We are only complete when we see through a different lens. That’s the awe and wonder: that we are moving with and through divine presence all the time.

Don: Maybe another way of asking the question is: Do we find awe, or does awe find us? And I’m wondering what you think of the word “awful.”

Michael: I looked up both “awful” and “awesome.” It’s interesting that “awful” relates to something bad, while “awesome” relates to something good. Originally, though, both words meant awe—whether awful or awesome. It’s just in the 18th and 19th centuries that “awful” took on a negative connotation and “awesome” a positive one. But both mean awe. I was thinking that awe isn’t just inspired by the good; sometimes what we label as terrifying or majestic in a fearful way can also be awe-inspiring.

C-J: I think the word comes through the English language, but the concept is more universal. It’s that moment when we become acutely aware of a shift, whether we label it as good or bad. It’s a profound awareness, like folding a piece of paper over and over, making it smaller and smaller—like in nanoscience—until suddenly it’s opened up, and we see vastness, a continuum with no beginning or end. That’s where we pause and go, “Ah!” We see how everything is related. Grace promotes grace, but when that gets convoluted, it becomes what we might label as evil.

When we go to war, we think we’re justified. We have a righteous justification, and yes, there’ll be carnage, but we believe it’s justified because we think afterward there’ll be no more war. But the problem is that the nature of humanity is centered in I, not in God’s will. That’s always been the problem. We’re not accountable to God, except when God holds us accountable, and even then, it’s done with grace. David, for example, sins, and there’s a price to be paid. He repents in sackcloth and ashes, but afterward, he bathes and goes out, and people wonder what happened. He rejoices in God’s wisdom and love. That’s what happens when we have a true epiphany. Our eyes are opened to the fact that God saved us from our own transgression, so we shouldn’t continue with that same thinking. If we keep our eyes on God, bad things don’t happen. Nature unfolds, builds, dissolves—it’s a continuum. But when we see it through God’s lens, we understand that God always cleanses.

Carolyn: In the Bible, when God removed the scales from people’s eyes, they saw what God wanted them to see. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the vernacular to express it correctly. Grace is always there—it’s ours to have, but I’d like to see this all come together more clearly in our discussion of awe.

Michael has given us such wonderful words this morning, and they’ve brought me some clarity. I think sometimes there’s so much clutter and stuff around us that we miss the awe that’s always happening. Maybe it has something to do with God, when He removes the scales or takes things away so we can approach life differently. Can awe be generated collectively, like in a group? Is that classified as worship, or is it just enjoyment, like at a concert or a sports event? Do we have different words for different kinds of awe?

C-J: I do believe that community enhances awe. When the Sufis are chanting and singing, their heartbeats synchronize. The same thing happens in other spiritual communities, like with the drumming of Native Americans. That synchrony compounds in a positive way—it enlarges and amplifies the experience, even for those who might not immediately recognize or understand it. But we get caught up in the presence. It’s like how our parents teach us the meaning of family. Then, after a while, they say, “You don’t go to your family’s house for Sunday dinner? We always did.” It feels different because their experience had such a profound impact on their sense of community, on the value they placed on family. And that could be a friend or a neighbor—it changes things.

But for people who don’t have that, maybe due to war, disease, famine, or short lives, that concept is harder to grasp because it’s not always present. It’s not natural to see children die in war. What’s natural is to see grandparents, parents, their offspring, and their offspring’s offspring live together. That’s natural for me, in this country, but it isn’t in a war-torn place, or in other circumstances. So awe is something we learn, something we embrace, something we practice, and something we pass on as an inheritance. I think the Bible is our inheritance, as are other religious texts. They tell us that if we are in alignment, if we open our eyes to the intention of the metaphorical garden present for us today, the relationship God offers us is always there. It’s not about what I do, the rituals, or my own goodness. My goodness—ha! It’s really about understanding this incredible gift of perpetual energy and grace that is always present. That’s just profound.

Grace, when properly understood and taught, is pretty awesome.

Don: The notion that you should get something for nothing is a pretty awesome concept. And I think that’s the connection Caroline asked about earlier—what’s the link between awe and grace? The idea that you don’t get something you deserve, and you do get something you don’t deserve, is a pretty awesome idea.

Reinhard: I think every extraordinary work or achievement by humans is awesome, whether it’s music or science or exploring space. To me, those are awe-inspiring. But ultimately, everything is done through God, whether it’s in the past or in our present lives. As Christians, we feel the blessings from God in everything we do. When people enjoy each other, when kids get together, our social interactions give us that feeling of love—and that love comes from God. So, all in all, I think we exist because of God’s blessing. And, of course, we worship an awesome God. That’s the bottom line—God is everything.

Rimon: I think about awe as something connecting you with God, but something “awful” can, in a way, disconnect you from God. When you see the horrors in the world, it feels like a disconnection, but when you see a butterfly being taken care of by God, it’s a vastly different experience. 

Michael: There are awful moments in the Bible that are also inspired or done by God. I don’t think they’re exclusive, like “awesome” is from God and “awful” isn’t, but I’m not sure. It does seem that there are more awesome moments in the Bible than awful ones, which might be saying something. It needs more thought.

David: The Beatitudes embody both the awful and the awesome. The awful is in the condition of the people who are blessed. They are people in the direst straits, people at the end of their tether. They’re in awful situations. And yet, the grace that comes to them is if anything more awesome because their situation is so awful. There seems to be a balance between the two.

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