Awe

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and more humble.”  Such experiences “… make us more willing to engage with trust and connect with others.”

The article goes on to remind us that “Awe is an emotional response to something vast, and it challenges and expands our way of seeing the world.”

The author said she heard from people who said they experienced awe at the birth of a child, watching a meteor shower and visiting the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California. A man said he found it awe-inspiring to work with homeless people and witness their resilience and kindness. The author’s dad said he experienced “nine days of awe” on a solo kayak trip in Alaska.

Awe may also help reduce inflammation. Researchers had 119 students rate how often they felt seven positive emotions (including awe). Students who reported feeling awe most often had the lowest levels of inflammation markers.
Researchers believe awe is powerful because it takes us out of our own heads. “Awe minimizes our individual identity and attunes us to things bigger than ourselves,” says Paul Piff, assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Irvine.

Another study had college students visit a stand of tall eucalyptus trees. Half were asked to gaze up at the trees for 60 seconds—

a task known to evoke awe; the other half were asked to stand with their backs to the trees and look at a building. Afterward, researchers approached each student with a questionnaire and pretended to trip and drop their pens. The study measured whether students would bend down to help pick up pens. The “awe” group picked up 10% more pens. Moreover, when asked if they felt entitled to payment, the awe group felt less entitled.

[2:45] You shall seek help through steadfastness and the Contact Prayers (Salat). This is difficult indeed, but not so for the reverent

[23:60] As they give their charities, their hearts are fully reverent. For they recognize that they will be summoned before their Lord

What makes us feel awe? How can we repeat the feeling? I had an experience of awe while at a distribution center for the Tucson food bank. As we picked up our boxes by GOD’s grace, I saw trucks and vans coming in and out. I saw people picking up boxes for their churches and others working hard to accommodate them. I saw needy people line up at the food bank. I think about how much it takes to feed a few people for a few moments of their lives. And I think about how GOD is feeding us all. And giving us air and water. And keeping our hearts beating. And then there are the animals…. What about the insects? And the plants… Glory be to our LORD.

 

[6:59] ... Not a leaf falls without His knowledge… 

About 40,661,600,000,000,000 leaves fall every autumn in the USA, or over 40 quadrillion leaves. How Awesome!

[6:103] No visions can encompass Him, but He encompasses all visions. He is the Compassionate, the Cognizant.

References

· http://www.wsj.com/articles/when-awe-struck-we-feel-both-smaller-and-larger-1482418800

· http://www.wsj.com/articles/researchers-study-awe-and-find-it-is-good-for-relationships-1424717882

· http://dailyapple.blogspot.com/2010/10/apple-488-how-many-leaves-fall.html

Rizwan

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[42:4] To Him belongs everything in the heavens and everything on earth, and He is the Most High, the Great.

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