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

Synchronicity

Synchronicity is a word that keeps tapping on my window, ever since I began my ministry at Altrincham and Urmston. The more I talk about it the more it seems to occur. Only in the last few days I have been aware of it on several occasions, there are three that really seem to stand out.

I was contacted by an old university mate, Max, last week; I have not seen him for about ten years. He recently got back in touch because I had bumped into a mutual mate Steve when I was studying at Luther King House. Steve was on a completely unrelated course there, the group he was with had just hired a room for the day. I haven’t actually seen Steve since that day 12 months ago, although we contact one another from time to time. Anyway Max has made arrangements to come to Manchester in a few weeks time and for us to meet up. Well the very next day I was in town with my dear friend Claire. Throughout the day I kept on bumping into old friends I’ve not seen for a while, including a man who helped me out, when I really needed, it a few years back. Sadly this man had recently lost his son and was still grieving.

We weren’t really sure what to do with the day and decided to take a left turn to look in a book store, there was something I wanted to get Claire. Well low and behold who do we bump into? Steve. I just burst into laughter, it was no surprise to me at all. I knew that I would see him that day. Some would call this happenchance and others merely coincidence, but I prefer the phrase synchronicity.

Later that evening I was looking for a hymn to end a service I was creating. I had picked an obscure reading for the service. I was not completely sure why, but I just felt like I ought to use it. Anyhow I was looking for a rousing hymn to end with, but one that was appropriate to theme of the service. I was a bit stuck but thought I might have found one. I opened a hymn book at completely the wrong page and was just about to turn it over again when suddenly I saw the words from the reading in the first verse of the hymn. It was also a rousing tune and just fitted in perfectly to theme of the service. Was this just random chance? Can synchronicity occur with inanimate objects?

The third occurrence I’d like to share happened yesterday morning. I left the Urmston congregation having led them in worship. I joined with the Altrincham folk and shared in worship created and led by several women members of the congregation. It was a wonderful experience and spoke powerfully to me. What was so amazing is that the main theme of the address was thematically identical to the subject of the address I had just shared at Urmston. I sat there grinning from ear to. We have made some powerful connections over the last few months and it is really showing. Yes I seem to be experiencing “meaningful coincidence” or do I mean “synchronicity” constantly, ever since I began my ministry last year.

What is synchronicity? The psychologist Carl Jung coined the phrase to explain what he called "meaningful coincidences " that occur due to seemingly unrelated events. His concept of synchronicity came about through the many baffling coincidences his patients shared with him in his practice, especially as he began to realize that the occurrences went beyond what could be attributed to mere chance. One example of synchronicity that really intrigued Carl Jung occurred with a patient recounting her dream of a golden scarab beetle. A young woman that Jung had been treating told him of a dream in which she had been given a golden scarab. He was sitting with his back to a closed window while she told him of the dream. Suddenly he heard a gentle tapping and turned to see a flying insect knocking against the window-pane from outside. Jung opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. The insect closely resembled a golden scarab. It was the one closest related to such creature in their part of the world. Normally, such insects would not come into a dark room, but at the same moment the patient mentioned the beetle she had been given in her dream, this beetle appeared at Jung’s window. He was quite astonished at the coincidental timing and admitted that nothing like it ever happened to him before or since. This was also a breakthrough moment for the patient who had become bogged down in his attempts to treat her.

Synchronicity suggests that events we experience as human beings are more than mere chance, that there is more going on; that we humans and all of life are connected and at a deeper level than would outwardly appear. For me this suggests that who we are, what we think, feel, imagine, react to, are interrelated with the things going on around us in our environment. Who and what we are, how we appear to be to others and how, who, and what they are and how they appear to us converge together at moments in time. Often we are unaware of this. I know I was for most of my life. What is interesting to me is that the more aware of this I have become and the more I talk about synchronicity, the more frequently it appears to occur.

During my ministry at Altrincham and Urmston I have made it a priority of mine to visit every member of both congregations in their homes. During this wonderfully spiritually intimate times many people have related similar experiences to me in the conversations that we have been having with one another. Several people have described times and events when the universe appears to have spoken to them of a deeper connection to life and that they have responded to it in turn.

Mothers often talk about a connection with their children of feeling their pain, even when they are not physically in their company. I’ve heard similar experiences recounted by siblings especially twins. Can these occurrences be rationally explained, it would appear not and yet so many of us recount them.

I have felt this too. It happened to me the moment that Ethan, my friend Claire’s son died. I was sat on the bus travelling to work when suddenly I felt violently sick in my stomach. I had never felt a sensation like it before or since. I discovered sometime later this was the same moment that the breathing apparatus in the hospital was turned off and Ethan was declared dead. Now you could just say that this was coincidence, but I believe it was due to the connection between us. It is not something I thought much about at the time, but as I have reflected upon it since it has made more sense. Of course many would say I was just feeling ill. My answer to that would be, this was not merely travel sickness it was far more violent. I had a very special connection with Ethan, throughout the few years that he lived. He taught me how to experience the Love I know as God.

I believe that I experience synchronicity frequently these days. The psychology professor Dr Alan Combs suggests in his book “Synchronicity, Science, Myth and the Trickster” that “If you expect the unexpected, synchronicity will emerge.” This is mirrored by Carolyn North who states, "If your belief system is such that intuition and synchronicity are real and significant, you will notice them. If your belief system is that they’re hogwash, you won’t." Well my experiences have revealed to me that the more open to synchronicity I have become, the more often I experience it.

It would appear that the more awake to synchronicity I have become; the more I experience it in my life. This complex, interrelated world in which we live and the life we share is, I believe, deep with meaning and beauty. Living fully and well requires that we wake up to it and go with it. Cultivating this awareness helps us become more fully alive.

The key, it would appear, is to be awake.

It is said that soon after his enlightenment that the Buddha passed a man on the road who was struck by the Buddha's extraordinary radiance and peaceful presence. The man stopped and asked, "My friend, what are you? Are you a celestial being or a god?"

"No," said the Buddha.

"Well, then, are you some kind of magician or wizard?"

Again the Buddha answered, "No."

"Are you a man?" "No."

"Well, my friend, then what are you?"

The Buddha replied, "I am awake."

Life is a gift, a precious gift and one we are fortunate to experience at all. I have discovered that the more aware and awake to this we are the more we can experience synchronicity and the more blessed and fortunate we feel.

The key for me is to become and remain open; the universe will take care of the rest.