Oprah's Magazine Reflects on Our Awesome World

A recent issue of the Oprah Magazine has an interesting article on awe. The article's introduction states: "Somewhere at the intersection of joy, fear, mystery, and insight lies awe, the ineffable response to the amazing world around us." The article goes on to give a more refined definition: "Overwhelming, surprising, humbling, even a little terrifying—awe is what we feel when faced with something sublime, exceptional, or altogether beyond comprehension."
University of California's Dacher Keltner, PhD, a psychology professor, does extensive research on the subject of awe. In his 2009 book Born to Be Good, he describes the feeling of awe as pushing people beyond selfishness and giving them a desire to do good. He believes that cultivating awe "is part of unlocking the truest sense of life's purpose." In his most well-known experiment, he had students complete a series of "I am" sentences. Half the students were facing a full-scale replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex; the other half were facing a hallway. The first group was more likely to describe themselves in larger, grander terms ("I am part of the human species"). The group facing an empty hallway described themselves in smaller, narrower terms ("I am a soccer player").

The article even gives some tips for cultivating awe:

1. Try something new or something "you don't have a mental template for."

2. Go outside. The ultimate in awe is the beauty and wonder of nature.

3. Have an "ecstatic social experience" by going to a rock concert or political rally.

4. Look up at the night sky. Better yet, buy a telescope.

Although the article presents a mostly secular view of awe, it does tap into our human longing to find "joy, fear, mystery … [in] response to the amazing world around us." According to the Bible, there is one source for all the awe we experience—God. We were created to live in awe of God. The word awe or awesome is mentioned 53 times throughout the Bible. The God who is "awesome in glory" (Exodus 15:11) and "mighty and awesome" (Deuteronomy 10:17) performs "awesome deeds for mankind" (Psalm 66:5). No wonder the psalmist proclaimed, "The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders" (Psalm 65:8).

David Hochman, "The Wonder of It All", Oprah Magazine, (December 2010)