Holy, healing awe

There’s a beach on the Oregon coast that’s very close to my heart. I went there every summer as a child, and now I get to play there with my son. I’ve spent so much time in that spot just sitting and watching the ocean, feeling in awe of the infinite freshness and newness that each wave and every unique sunset represents.

This attitude of awe is one I strive to cultivate in other ways, too. In particular, I love to be in awe of God. To just be still and appreciate Him, to reflect on His limitless goodness, to be inspired. It’s not so much thinking about Him, but more that I practice letting a holy awareness of Him be all that I know.

In that place of stillness, healing happens. One time I felt so ill that stillness was the last thing that seemed possible. And yet, like a beam of light breaking through the clouds, I suddenly felt a total assurance that God was with me. No sense of process – not like God would be with me soon, once I figured out how to get better. Just a clear sense of gratitude for God and His continuous goodness. I peacefully fell asleep, and when I awoke, I was well.

In “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, writes that spiritual understanding “is not intellectual, is not the result of scholarly attainments; it is the reality of all things brought to light” (p. 505). It’s God, divine Spirit, that imparts this understanding and assurance – to each one of us! We just need to be willing to pause and be receptive to it.

In this holy place of awe, there’s no room for fear or concern. Instead we become more conscious of a divinely maintained harmony. Today, each one of us can take every opportunity to be in awe of God – and to feel our inclusion in that harmony.

Adapted from the June 5, 2018, Christian Science Daily Lift podcast.