One Small Step: Watching With Awe and Reverence

Fifty years ago today, the 21st of July 1969, it is estimated that some 530 million people, throughout the world were glued, to black and white tv’s waiting with “bated breath” as Neil Armstrong became “The First Man” to step foot on the moon. As he did he uttered the immortal words “That’s one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind,”

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.

Awe does that to you. Whenever I have stood having been touched by life or witnessed a human being in their beautiful magnificence or horror filled destructiveness, awe has filled my being. Awe makes you aware of a reality far greater than yourself; awe is the true experience of our smallness our apparent insignificance in the presence of the immensity of it all. And yet, small as we are, we all play a vital role in life. We never know what our thoughts, words and deeds can bring about. Each step is a small step and yet it may just become a giant leap for humanity. Do we ever truly see our own human potential and that of our brothers and sisters? Do we revere our human capacity? Do we recognise, in each other, those words from the 8th Psalm v 8 quoted by Paul in his letter to the Hebrews Ch2 v 7 '. . . you have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honour!'

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.

John O’Donohue

Can we live as one?

Last year I bought a copy of  “Falling Into the Sky: A Meditation Anthology” edited by Abhi Janamanchi and Abhimanyu Janamanchi. There are some beautiful reflections in it, The following “God Has No Borders” by Rod Richards seems particularly pertinent in the current climate.

"We humans are the line-drawers. We are the border-makers. We are the boundary-testers. We are the census-takers. We draw a line to separate this from that, so we can see clearly what each is. We create a border to define our place, so we can take care of what's there. We test boundaries to find if they are real, if they are necessary, if they are just. We congregate within those boundaries in families and tribes and cities and countries that we call us. And we call people on the other side them.

But our minds seek boundaries that our hearts know not. The lines we draw disappear when viewed with eyes of compassion. The recognition of human kinship does not end at any border. A wise part of us knows that the other is us, and we them.

Let justice flow like water and peace like a never-ending stream. Let compassion glow like sunlight and love like an ever-shining beam. The rain, the sunshine, the breeze, the life-giving air we breathe -- they know no boundaries. Neither do our empathy, our good will, our concern for one another.

God has no borders. Love has no borders. Let us lift up the awareness of our unity as we celebrate our awesome diversity on this beautiful day."

John Lennon once sang “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will live as one”.

Well looking around at our world at times this does indeed seem a dream. Pick up any newspaper or switch on the news and we see division and violence growing. The idea that we can live as one does seem like a dream at times.

This last week marked the hundredth anniversary of the commencement of the First World War. Over the coming months there will be many events remembering this. While we remember I do wonder if we have ever really learned. Over the last 100 years there have been very few days when there was no conflict taking place in this our world.

Now while death through armed conflict is responsible for the loss of so many lives it is thought that only about 10% of the one million violent deaths in the world each year are due to them. The conflicts and the violence that takes place in this our world is not just between nations, or even groups and individuals. Half of the 1 million deaths are thought to be through suicide and about one third through homicide. How can we live at one with each other if we cannot live at one with ourselves?

Now of course the divisions in human life take many and varied forms. We see them of course in religious context and between nations and ethnic groups. We seem them in political agendas and we see them within communities and even within ourselves. It seems that when human beings come together in any way shape or form division soon begins to grow. It happens in families too and within our individual selves. How many of us can honestly say, hand on heart, that they are at one with themselves and the world around them?

It seems very difficult to imagine a world where we can all live as one.

A few days ago I came across a fascinating article written about  Buzz Aldrin, the second man to land on the moon. The article recounted something that took place during that first moon landing, something that was intentionally kept quiet at the time.

As Neil Armstrong was preparing to take “one small step for man” Aldrin wanted to mark the moment in a way that was deeply spiritually meaningful to him, something that he believed would symbolise the wonder and awe of the moon landings and that transcended the nuts and bolts and mere technology. He felt that a simple communion would be appropriate. So Aldrin brought with him a piece of communion bread, a sip of wine and a tiny silver chalice amongst the few personal items he was allowed to take into space with him.

So just before stepping foot on the moon, Aldrin conducted the service. As he did he called out to Houston

“Houston, this is Eagle. This is the LM Pilot speaking. I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the past few hours and to invite each person listening, wherever and whomever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his own individual way.”

Aldrin had wanted to broadcast the event globally but had been discouraged by NASA who were at the time fighting a lawsuit brought by the atheist activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair who was suing them over the reading of Genesis by the crew of Apollo 8. So the communion was kept quiet and personal due to fear of litigation.

Years later while reflecting on the incident Aldrin said himself that perhaps he should have chosen a more universal way of commemorating this incredible human achievement. He said;

“Perhaps if I had it to do over again, I would not choose to celebrate communion… Although it was a deeply meaningful experience for me, it was a Christian sacrament, and we had come to the moon in the name of all mankind—be they Christians, Jews, Muslims, animists, agnostics, or atheists. But at the time I could think of no better way to acknowledge the enormity of the Apollo 11 experience than by giving thanks to God.”

So many of those early astronauts, as they looked down on earth, were deeply moved by the experience. They certainly saw the oneness and the interconnection of all life on earth and all of humanity.

Thomas Stafford, while looking down on earth from Apollo 10 famously said:


"The white twisted clouds and the endless shades of blue in the ocean

make the hum of the spacecraft systems, the radio chatter, even your

own breathing disappear. There is no cold or wind or smell to tell you

that you are connected to Earth.

You have an almost dispassionate platform - remote, Olympian and yet so moving that you can hardly believe how emotionally attached you are to those rough patterns shifting steadily below."

From space those astronauts developed a deepening spiritual connection to the earth they had been separated from. They saw the world as one, there were no borders from space.

We are all connected on this our planet and yet we build so many walls, so many borders that separate us. How do we begin to live with a greater sense of oneness and interconnection? Well I do not think that the only answer is to blast off into space. I don’t think we need to do this. If I’ve learnt anything I have learnt that the journey towards interconnection and togetherness, the spiritual journey, is not one of distance, nor is it a journey of detachment, the spiritual journey is one of connection.

For me the spiritual life is essentially about connection. It is about connecting to a reality that is greater than our small selves. Living spiritually is about finding ways to connect to whatever it is that is of highest worth to us, whatever we hold sacred, whatever we regard as holy. It is about finding ways to connect through the daily interactions of our lives; it’s about learning how to live more openly even when the tough times come and those around us are refusing to do so.

This is not easy, especially when we see so many of those around us seemingly living more disconnectedly from all life and putting up barriers towards others. So how do we do this, you may well ask? Well I believe it begins with spiritual practise, it is this that will help us to connect in deeper and more meaningful ways.

I’d like to suggest a simple practise to you, one I came across in a book of meditations titled “Singing in the Night: Collected Meditations: Volume Five” edited by Mary Bernard. It is by David O. Rankin and is titled “Our Common Destiny”

“First, I must begin with my own creation. I must celebrate the miracle of evolution that resulted in a living entity named David. I must assist in the unfolding of the process by deciding who I am, by fashioning my own identity, by creating myself each day. I must listen to the terrors, the desires, the impulses that clash in the depths of my soul. I must know myself, or I will be made and used by others.

Second, I must learn to affirm my neighbours. I must respect others, not for their function, but for their being. I must put others at the centre of my attention, to treat them as ends, and to recognise our common destiny. I must never use people to win glory, or to measure the ego, or to escape from responsibility. I must listen to their words, their thoughts, their coded messages.

Finally, I must value action more than intention. I must feel, think, judge, decide, and then risk everything in acts of gratuitous freedom. I must batter the walls of loneliness. I must leap the barriers of communication. I must tear down the fences of anonymity. I must destroy the obstacles to life and liberty. Not in my mind (as a wistful dream). But in my acts (as a daily reality)."

Can we live as one? At one with ourselves, at one with one another, at one with those people who we see as being different to ourselves, can we live at one with all of life? Well I believe it is possible, I don’t see it as an impossible dream. It begins within our own hearts and souls and in the ways that we conduct our lives. It will not be easy though, as the forces of division are all around us and indeed within us.

Therefore it must begin within our own hearts and souls. in the way we live our own lives. It begins by learning to revere life as the most precious God given gift there is. If we do this we will surely no longer be able to create divisions within ourselves, one another and all life.

I'm going to end this little blogspot with some prayerful words by  Rick Hoyt titled “Beyond Borders”. I invite you still yourselves in a time of prayer…let us pray…

“Beyond Borders” by Rick Hoyt

Go forth
Because we are always going forth from somewhere

Going from our homes
Going from our childhoods and younger selves
Going from our cities and states and countries
Going from innocence to experience to enlightenment

Finding borders
Testing borders
Crossing borders.

Go forth
into the night
Because we are always going into some night,

Going into mystery
Going into questions
Going into the desert
Getting to the other side.

Go forth,
Eagerly or reluctantly
Leaving behind the comfort and joy and community and
familiarity of one place
Go forth, into the anxiety and sadness and loneliness and
strangeness of some other place.

Carry with you the love and laugther of this place
And let it light your spirit and your life and your way
as you make your journey.
Carry with you the wisdom you learned and the good memories of this place
And may they give you strength for your journey.

And when you have been away long enough,
far enough,
Done what you set off to do
Been there so long that
That place too, starts to feel like home.

Come back.
Come back.
Come back to the one, universal,
Everywhere and every when and everyone inclusive home,
This beloved community of all creation
That you cannot ever really leave.