Awe (Paul David Tripp)
Why it matters in all we think say and do
That feeling you get as you stand taking in the staggering height of the Cliffs of Moher, seeing the waves pound ferociously at their feet. The spine-tingling sound of a skilled musician reveling in that cello concerto. A clear day across the breath-taking Mourne mountains or the crisp, clean whiteness of newly fallen snow. Awe.
A recent study by the University of California, San Francisco sought to see the impact of people going on a daily "awe walk" encouraging participants to take time notice the everyday beauty around them: the crunch of leaves beneath their feet, droplets of water shimmering on the lampposts, a simple bird song. (Compared with a control group that just had to go for a walk). The results after 8 weeks were perhaps unsurprising; the awe walk group reported an increase in positive emotions such as joy, gratitude, and compassion as well as general levels of distress decreasing compared to those just taking the exercise. There is evidently a health benefit to what the study described as "feeling a sense of our smallness in front of something vastly greater than yourself".
Perhaps you, like many others during the last few months, have or would have benefited from an "awe walk" in the midst of strange and anxious days. Whilst an awe walk may improve your mental health, it isn't the golden answer to all your stress, worry, and anxiety during a global pandemic (or even normal life).
As humans we are hardwired for awe but this awe, since the fall, has been misplaced, stopping with the created things rather than the Creator. Paul Tripp's book "Awe - why it matters in all we say and do" is an easy read (no excuses) dripping with heart-warming jewels. Tripp points to where our awe ought to lie and how it affects every facet of life: from our complaining to our very worldview. As Christians, still bound by sinful flesh, we are subject to much amnesia and fall into misplaced awe that steals our hope, contentment, joy, and usefulness in the kingdom. Only with proper awe of God can other things be put in their place and we can see as God intended us to. Tripp's book is an encouraging and helpful book to prompt you to realign your awe and look beyond the created things to the Creator, that your heart might continue to cry out "Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?" Exodus 15:11. We need not rely on a superficial "awe walk" to see us through these days, know your Saviour better and bask in the awe that brings life and light.
