How to Live in Awe

"But even more important, we must learn to acknowledge that the creation is full of mystery; we will never entirely understand it. We must abandon arrogance and stand in awe. We must recover the sense of the majesty of creation, and the ability to be worshipful in its presence. For I do not doubt that it is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world that our species will be able to remain in it.”  - Wendell Berry - From the Essay A Native Hill

Right now, this day, May 15, the reddest tulips and the whitest spirea are blossoming in my garden. Soon the peonies will be out. And I open the door to get the newspaper in the morning, and hear the cardinals, the red-winged blackbirds, the robins and nuthatches, so many birds singing to the glorious spring day!

It is my one joy these days, to hear the birds sing and see the fruit trees in bloom.

This creation is full of mystery, and I certainly don't understand it.  The older I get, the less I seem to understand about the world, about the great scheme of things.

But I can stand in wonder!

I don't understand politics, I don't know how to make the world a better place, I don't know how to calm down China, North Korea and Russia. I read the news and sometimes I despair.

I do know how to stop and be in stillness, and that helps me appreciate more, enjoy more, and it eases my worried mind.

My creative practice, my weekly yoga class, my friends and family who stick by me, my loving husband....make up for all the things I do not understand. Like, why is their addiction, depression and anxiety, and why do people make themselves, and others, miserable? Why do I listen to my own worst enemy, my inner critic, and not spend my days filling up my heart with joy?

Just for today, I acknowledge the mystery. And stand in humility, and awe.