Those words are perhaps some of the best known in human history. The grammar pedants amongst us have questioned why he said “one small step for man” as apposed to the grammatically correct “one small step for a man”. There are many theories as to what he actually meant to say. I for one like the fact that it suggests that everyone was taking that step. It was not his step alone, although it was his foot that felt the dust beneath it. He was certainly humbled by the experience saying “It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.”
He was in that moment disconnected from the earth and the people there and yet knew he was taking that step for all the people that shared that beautifully blue planet that from the moon he could cover with his thumb. This deeply humbled him as he stood there is utter awe.
Marilynne Robinson captured the meaning of awe, reverence and humility, those feelings that Armstrong felt walking on the moon, in the following quotation:
" '. . . our capacity for awe is the lens through which creation passes. . . . So reverence should be thought of as prior to belief. It is the human predisposition, perhaps as universal among us as any other, to sense the grandeur of the event we call being, to consider the heavens, to ponder the cunning of a hand.
. . . reverence is the great corrective to the tendency of belief to warp, contract, harden. This is true, I think, because reverence is a kind of awe, and awe is a kind of humility.'
Last Sunday, like probably half of the country and many millions around the world, I found myself caught up in the awe and wonder of sport. I could hardly breath, I watched with bated breath the World Cup Cricket Final, while checking my phone to see the score of the Wimbledon Tennis Mens Singles Final. Millions more were just as caught up in this as I was. I have never seen anything quite like that game between England and New Zealand, the tension, the skill, the fighting qualities, the luck and tiny margin between success and failure. Perhaps the greatest thing was the capacity of the players to remain focused on the task at hand as they were cheered on by the awe filled supporters. It was incredible. How many times in my life has sport caught me up like this, usually it has ultimately led to disappointment, dating right back the 1976 Montreal Olympics when I was just four years old. My mother woke me at midnight to watch Brendon Foster race, which I did with excitement and bated breath and wept inconsolably as he came in third.
There have been a lifetime of disappointments and the occasional success ever since. It’s the same for most of us. The New Zealand cricketers and their supporters must be feeling this deeply.
I had experienced an incredible sense of awe and reverence earlier that day. I missed the first innings of the cricket. I only finished work as England began their run chase. I had conducted the two Sunday services and then at 2pm I conducted a child blessing. I love such services, they truly connect me to the core of my spiritual beliefs. I chatted several times about this during the morning services and also with others over the days before the service about what I believe the “blessing” as I call it means. It is not a washing away of sin, nor is it proclamation of faith. Then again it is not merely a naming ceremony. Yes the child is named and I ask the parents, God parents and those in attendance to make promises to the child and all children, as well as to life itself. I touch the child on its forehead, lips and hands symbolising its thoughts, words and deeds. The service recognizes the sacredness and uniqueness of its life and water connects the child to all life. The service always fills me with awe and reverence.
Awe and reverence are intense feelings at times. I am going through a time of increased sensitivity this year. I felt a deeper sense of reverence and awe last week when in the company of another who was beginning to open himself up for the first times in his life. I felt it in the presence of others when I have connected deeply with them, beautifully transcendent moments. I felt it on several occasions during my recent trip to Israel, moments that will stay with me forever. Moments that have opened my heart, my mind and my soul and given me an increased sense of responsibility for life, the earth that sustains life and those I share this world with. I have awoken to a deeper love within me, these last few months. It has increased a deeper sense of reverence within me. This can be deeply painful at times. The longer I live, the more I realise that most of our troubles are related to this inability to recognize that true divinity in one another. What do you see when you look at the other? Does it instill in you a true sense of awe and reverence? Does it bring alive that love within you?
It matters how we see one another for it will impact on how we live and this really matters. We can inspire one another to fulfill our potential and truly serve life, to take those small steps that may well become giant leaps for humanity. Do we encourage one another, or do we discourage each other?
This raises a question for me. How do we encourage, inspire, each other to take those small steps? How do we bless each other with our presence? How do we fill our children’s hearts with the courage to be all that they were born to be and their spirits with faith in love and life? Well I believe it begins by allowing them to witness what it is that makes us come alive. Howard Thurman said “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do it. For what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
That is so true. This is what the world needs more than anything, people who come alive, this is how we inspire and thus encourage, by our simple example. Last weekend in my simple interactions with ordinary people and through some of the things I saw on the tv I found myself being inspired by others in their joy and in their courage to face their very real struggles. Last weekend blew my heart open and I felt that spirit in me coming alive. I see and witness so many people in my life who dedicate themselves to helping others to find what is already within them, I find it beautifully inspiring.
It brought to mind a rather beautiful mantra I once heard. It goes by the title “It’s time somebody told you”:
“It’s time somebody told you that you are lovely, good and real; that your beauty can make hearts stand still. It’s time somebody told you how much they love and need you, how much your spirit helped set them free, how your eyes shine full of light. It’s time somebody told you.”
Who are the people who have inspired you? Who planted the seeds of love or who nurtured those seeds and enabled them to grow and flower? Who have been your inspirations in your lives? Who are the people who have encouraged you to come alive? To take that small step that might just change the world.
Every journey begins with one small step. Now whether that step is literal or figurative does not seem to matter. Any journey whether it be of mind, body or the spirit begins with one small step. None of us remember our first small steps in life, but I guarantee you that they were etched permanently on the hearts and minds of those who witnessed them, who our lives were dependent upon, our first supporters and cheerleaders.
Our journeys will not lead to us stepping on the moon and even if they do, they will not be the first steps there. That does not make our steps any the less significant, for each step matters; every step matters, for it impacts in some way or another. Everything matters. What we believe about ourselves and each other matters. How we live in the world matters. How we act towards each other matters. Whether we encourage or discourage matters. It matters profoundly.
I believe that living with awe and deep reverence for life is the key for making our lives truly matter. For without it we will not see one another with reverence, they just won’t matter to us. It matters how we see one another and what we pass on to the children, as they take those first steps into life. For our example will help develop in them love and compassion for each other and the courage to greet each new day with awe and reverence for life itself. And thus they will begin to make a difference in the world. Awe and reverence will ground them in something greater themselves, even if that is just the ground at their feet. So that even when times are difficult, they can continue to put one foot in front of the other, and thus keep on taking those small steps that one day may well become a giant leap forward for the whole of humankind.
So let’s continue taking those small steps together, lets bless the world with our thoughts, words and deeds in awe and reverence for life.
I’m going to end this "blogspot" with some words of blessing by John O'Donohue...
“A BLESSING”
May you awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
May you have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
May you receive great encouragement when new frontiers beckon.
May you respond to the call of your gift and find the courage to follow its path.
May the flame of anger free you from falsity.
May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame and may anxiety never linger about you.
May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.
May you take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
May you be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.
. . . reverence is the great corrective to the tendency of belief to warp, contract, harden. This is true, I think, because reverence is a kind of awe, and awe is a kind of humility.'
Awe and reverence are intense feelings at times. I am going through a time of increased sensitivity this year. I felt a deeper sense of reverence and awe last week when in the company of another who was beginning to open himself up for the first times in his life. I felt it in the presence of others when I have connected deeply with them, beautifully transcendent moments. I felt it on several occasions during my recent trip to Israel, moments that will stay with me forever. Moments that have opened my heart, my mind and my soul and given me an increased sense of responsibility for life, the earth that sustains life and those I share this world with. I have awoken to a deeper love within me, these last few months. It has increased a deeper sense of reverence within me. This can be deeply painful at times. The longer I live, the more I realise that most of our troubles are related to this inability to recognize that true divinity in one another. What do you see when you look at the other? Does it instill in you a true sense of awe and reverence? Does it bring alive that love within you?
It matters how we see one another for it will impact on how we live and this really matters. We can inspire one another to fulfill our potential and truly serve life, to take those small steps that may well become giant leaps for humanity. Do we encourage one another, or do we discourage each other?
That is so true. This is what the world needs more than anything, people who come alive, this is how we inspire and thus encourage, by our simple example. Last weekend in my simple interactions with ordinary people and through some of the things I saw on the tv I found myself being inspired by others in their joy and in their courage to face their very real struggles. Last weekend blew my heart open and I felt that spirit in me coming alive. I see and witness so many people in my life who dedicate themselves to helping others to find what is already within them, I find it beautifully inspiring.
It brought to mind a rather beautiful mantra I once heard. It goes by the title “It’s time somebody told you”:
“It’s time somebody told you that you are lovely, good and real; that your beauty can make hearts stand still. It’s time somebody told you how much they love and need you, how much your spirit helped set them free, how your eyes shine full of light. It’s time somebody told you.”
Who are the people who have inspired you? Who planted the seeds of love or who nurtured those seeds and enabled them to grow and flower? Who have been your inspirations in your lives? Who are the people who have encouraged you to come alive? To take that small step that might just change the world.
Our journeys will not lead to us stepping on the moon and even if they do, they will not be the first steps there. That does not make our steps any the less significant, for each step matters; every step matters, for it impacts in some way or another. Everything matters. What we believe about ourselves and each other matters. How we live in the world matters. How we act towards each other matters. Whether we encourage or discourage matters. It matters profoundly.
I believe that living with awe and deep reverence for life is the key for making our lives truly matter. For without it we will not see one another with reverence, they just won’t matter to us. It matters how we see one another and what we pass on to the children, as they take those first steps into life. For our example will help develop in them love and compassion for each other and the courage to greet each new day with awe and reverence for life itself. And thus they will begin to make a difference in the world. Awe and reverence will ground them in something greater themselves, even if that is just the ground at their feet. So that even when times are difficult, they can continue to put one foot in front of the other, and thus keep on taking those small steps that one day may well become a giant leap forward for the whole of humankind.
So let’s continue taking those small steps together, lets bless the world with our thoughts, words and deeds in awe and reverence for life.
I’m going to end this "blogspot" with some words of blessing by John O'Donohue...
“A BLESSING”
May you awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
May you have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
May you receive great encouragement when new frontiers beckon.
May you respond to the call of your gift and find the courage to follow its path.
May the flame of anger free you from falsity.
May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame and may anxiety never linger about you.
May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.
May you take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
May you be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.
John O’Donohue
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