“At the crack of dawn, the women came to the tomb . . . they found the stone rolled away . . . they were puzzled as they couldn’t find the body of Jesus . . . then out of nowhere two men bathed in heavenly light appeared . . . the women were awestruck and bowed down in worship.”  Luke 24:1-4 (The Message)

Easter is SUCH a happy time, isn’t it?

What is it that makes you happy on Easter?

Maybe gathering with family.  Perhaps watching children and grandchildren hunt for Easter eggs.  Possibly a rousing Easter Sunday service with trumpets.  Maybe the memories of Easters passed, loved ones long gone.  Or maybe it’s the simple message of the Resurrection and the hope it gives.  And of course there is the chocolate.  Always the chocolate.

Yes, Easter is a happy time.  But Easter is fleeting, and so is happiness.  And that’s why the pursuit of happiness as a life goal is elusive and too often leaves us feeling duped, or deceived by an empty promise, as though we’ve been sold a bill of goods.

Maybe, just maybe, there’s something larger and more lasting than happiness, that really does give our life meaning, purpose and fulfillment.  Perhaps that something is Awe and Wonder!

That’s what we witness in the women on that first Easter.  They are awestruck.  The word that is used is unique—appearing only here in the New Testament. It’s difficult to capture the exact meaning—But being filled with awe and wonder comes close.  Finding the tomb empty and the body of Jesus gone was marvelous, mysterious, miraculous, magnificent. Not only would it change their lives, it would change they way they viewed life.  I am convinced that they carried the wonder and awe that they felt on that first Easter with them for the rest of their days.

We haven’t experienced what those women did.  But we can still live in awe and wonder.  When we open our eyes to really see, we witness the marvelous, mysterious, miraculous and magnificent every day.

We see it in the mysterious process of germination of flowers and plants that begin with a simple seed buried in the ground, that somehow “knows” how to break through the soil and be nourished with water and light, growing into a beautiful part of God’s creation.

We see it in the miracle of the birth of a child.  The odds of a person being conceived is one in 400 trillion.  YOU are a miracle!  In the short gestation period of 9 months a zygote becomes a fully formed human being.  And to have a live birth requires 139 events to occur in perfect symmetry. 

We see it in the marvelous movements in nature, be it the circle of life in which flora and fauna die in order to give life, or the symmetry of the solar system in which we live.  (Did you know the observable universe is 93 billion light years in diameter?)

We see it as we listen to the sweet songs and beautiful music, all comprised of individual notes and composed by those who hear the chorus of heavenly creation inside of their own imagination.

And of course, we see it in the resurrection and rebirth of Jesus, and the promise that we shall share in the same. 

I could go on and on . . . but where do you see awe and wonder?  And how do you experience it, soak in it, marinate in it?  I will stop here and leave you with some quotes that capture this idea better than I am able.  I wish for you a life lived every day in awe and wonder.

“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably, magnificent world in itself.”  Henry Miller

“If our religion is based on salvation, our chief emotions will be fear and trembling.  If our religion is based on wonder, our chief motion will be gratitude.” Carl Jung

“Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement . . . get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted.  Everything is phenomenal, everything is incredible, never treat life casually.  To be spiritual is to be amazed.”  Abraham Joshau Heschel

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs.  Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”  Howard Thurman

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowi0ng us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.”  John Milton

“People who feel even five minutes a day of awe are more curious about art, music, poetry, new scientific discoveries, philosophy, and questions about life and death.  They feel more comfortable with mysteries, with that which cannot be explained.”  Dacher Keltner

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle, or you can live as if everything is.  The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.  He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead.” Albert Einstein

“I felt deep within me that the highest point a person can attain is not knowledge, or virtue, or goodness, or victory, but something greater, more heroic, and more despairing: Sacred Awe.”  Nikos Kazantzakis in Zorba the Greek.