Elder and retired pastor Wes Granberg-Michaelson views awe and wonder as resources to inspire us when we come to the end of our own knowing:
When your rational certainty breaks down—as of course it will—give attention to where your soul, the integrated center of your being, wanders. Where are you drawn? What do you long for? What gives you joy? What captures your curiosity? My guess is that you will be drawn to beckoning experiences of connection…. These will likely include connections not only to people, but to the created world where experiences of awe and transcendence intersect with you in worship, music, art, and practices that unlock a fresh spiritual encounter opening your inner self to God’s presence.
Those who are called mystics nearly always display an intimate sense of connection to the created world. Often this comes with striking particularity, like a reflection on a stone, or Julian of Norwich’s vision of a hazelnut. Because mystics grasp the interconnection of all things, they perceive God’s presence as comingled with all creation. Contemplation radicalizes the sense of God’s presence in the world….
But you don’t have to be Julian of Norwich or Thomas Merton to participate in this understanding of interconnectedness. The doorways that open the pathway of this experience will vary according to your life’s setting and history. But in the shroud of intellectual uncertainty and doubt, you are likely to be drawn to experiences with nature that inspire transcendent awe…. You discover instances of inspiration and wonder that move beyond and beneath mere cognition.
Maybe your wandering time leads you on a wilderness hike when you cross a ridge and are awestruck by a shimmering alpine lake reflecting a snow-covered mountain peak like a mirror. Or maybe you happen upon a firefly at nightfall in your backyard, where that tiny, sudden light blinks up, rises, and settles on your arm. In simple and unexpected moments of epiphany, you will sense that you are connected to creation in ways that bypass your self-protective, preoccupied, rational mind. Your task? Be attentive. Allow your wonder to wander.
Granberg-Michaelson shares in a journal entry from his twenties how he was moved by the beauty of creation:
Whenever one is moved to awe by the beauty of creation, one is moved by God. God, the Creator of both the beauty, and of the inner feelings that excite the soul.
The inspiration we feel in the presence of beauty causes us to transcend ourselves, and in so doing, this is the testimony to the presence of God in the world. Regardless of one’s intellectual view of God, when one is moved beyond him or herself, beyond a preoccupation with one’s own being to the recognition of the greatness that is other than him or her, then the inward urge to worship and adore such beauty means one is being moved by God toward God.
Reference:
Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, The Soulwork of Justice: Four Movements for Contemplative Action (Orbis Books, 2025), 90–93.
Image Credit and inspiration: Mieke Campbell, untitled (detail), 2021, photo, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. The child’s wide-eyed wonder mirrors a heart open to awe: seeing the sacred glimmer even in the most ordinary of moments.
Story from Our Community:
In Ireland, I am always astounded and humbled by the natural beauty that has been intentionally preserved. The cliff walks, forest wanderings, majestic trees, and flowing streams evoke the feeling of visiting an ancient cathedral still standing after a thousand years. I’ve never felt so much awe or so closely aligned with the stunning gift of God’s creation as when I am in the midst of it without distraction. We’ve forgotten our innate and inherent connection to our earth home, its creatures, and one another. Spending time in nature softens everything and brings us closer to God.
—Catherine R.
