Browsing the new releases shelf at my library, the book Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by psychologist Dacher Keltner called to me. In the 1960s neuroscientists began mapping emotions in the human brain such as anger, fear, sadness, surprise and joy. Awe was left unstudied — scientists at the time viewed it as a phenomenon of the soul, or of the sacred; an experience that defied measurement. But in 2003, Keltner and his colleagues immersed themselves in studies of mystics and anthropologists’ accounts of experiences of awe in dance, music, art and religion. The scientists recognized awe as a distinct emotion, registered uniquely in the brain, Keltner writes, defining it as “the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world.” The Greek word fobeō runs throughout Luke’s first and second chapters, which can be translated as “fear” or “awe.” Whenever God or one of God’s messengers comes near, biblical characters feel this mix of emotions, a disorienting reverence at being in the presence of something that transcends understanding. When the angel Gabriel greets Mary with the news that she will give birth to God’s son, Mary is “much perplexed” (v. 29) — disoriented and awestruck by this word from God. The angel responds to Mary’s awe with words of reassurance: “Do not be afraid (fobeō), Mary, for you have found favor with God” (v. 30). In Luke 2, an angel of the Lord appears to the shepherds to bring the good news of great joy that our Savior has been born. In the presence of the angel, these field hands were “terrified” (fobeō). When experiencing awe, Keltner discovered a trend. People’s sense of themselves as independent individuals diminished while their sense of connectedness, being a small part of something larger, increased. ... Read the rest of the commentary on the website. |
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