The Beauty of an "Awe Walk" by Sandi Somers

I awakened early and felt an urge to go for a pre-dawn walk that morning of June 14, 1995, to one of my favourite Calgary nature areas—Weaselhead. It was a thickly-treed area that I so enjoyed hiking every so often. The sky was clouded over and there was a possibility of rain, so I wore my raincoat.

As I began my walk, I breathed in the fresh earthy fragrance and absorbed the idyllic atmosphere of trees whose leaves had recently burst into their green June fullness.

Raindrops began to fall. Softly they landed on tree leaves—music to my ears. I pulled my jacket hood over my head and heard the gentle drops.

Just then a least flycatcher with his characteristic "che-bek" began to sing beside my pathway. He was hidden among the tree leaves and I had to carefully search to spot this tiny brown bird, smaller than even a house wren (photo and song here).

Something about that beautiful moment inspired such great awe that I couldn't express my feelings. Eventually I discovered that the Psalms would give me words for what I could not say. I especially loved Psalm 104, savoring the eloquent word choices and imagery. The beauty and grandeur of God almost took my breath away.

O Lord my God, how great you are!

You are robed with honor and majesty.

You are dressed in a robe of light….

You make springs pour water into the ravines,

So streams gush down from the mountains.

They provide water for all the animals…

The birds nest beside the streams

And sing among the branches of the trees…

My walk that morning has been an example of what Professor Virginia Sterm called an "awe walk", or a beauty excursion, walking in nature with the intention of tapping into something that brings a sense of wonder.

(NOTE: A beauty excursion can also be to other places—an art gallery of majestic paintings, a museum, a bookstore where you find a gem, a Christmas craft sale where you discover beautiful wood carvings…)

The question is: How can we capture beauty in our writing through nature “awe walks” or other beauty excursions? Writing can deepen our experience as we take photos, journal, write a poem, compose a song, or add to an article. Here are several angles:

- Engaging our senses sharpens our attention and “thickens” our writing, to use Carol Shields’ concept. Writing the scene as fully as possible makes a good story that captivates our readers’ attention and imagination.

- Including metaphors and unique verbs improves the variety and quality of our sentences and makes our writing sing.

- Marvelling on the wonder gives us an emotional boost. Psychologists say that wonder, joy, beauty, and awe bring down such things as anxiety, depression, stress, anger, and fatigue while increasing restorative effects such as vitality, vigor, and positive emotions. As we give ourselves a moment to feel joy and calm or excitement and amazement, we can attempt to write our emotional responses in these transcendent moments.

- Giving time to write of our gratitude and worship our Creator God is a necessary component. As we delight in our Lord, the beauty of nature and of our relationship with Jesus flourishes in our lives and writing. Doing so enables us to discover a spiritual meaning, a universal truth that our readers can relate to. William Blake wrote an eloquent poem on discovering the universal truth when he wrote:

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.

The author Harold Best advised: “Remember that God makes things beautiful from the inside out…elegant …Join up with the mind of the One in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”[i]

As we write to engage beauty, our lives can have a great impact. I’m reminded of someone who said that the testimony of a survivor of Cambodia’s Killing Fields was “something beautiful for God.”

God is developing us into a beautiful work of art and faith. A faith that fuels trust and hope. Pay attention to how you experience God’s presence and tell how beautifully He is working in your life.

Sandi Somers’ writing passion is to help readers grow their faith in Jesus, including their vision of what God wants them to be and do. She writes of her love of nature, gardening, travel, and family in several genres—devotionals, personal essays, and Biblical fiction. Sandi lives in Calgary, Alberta, the delightful city between the Rocky Mountains and the Prairies.

[i] Michael Card, (Scribbling in the Sand, Downers Grove, IL, IVP, 2002), 123-124.

Top Image by Pixabay

When My Heart Sings, Guest Post by Brenda Leyland

"Work on projects

that make your heart sing."

Lady Bird Johnson

Lady Bird’s sage advice has been a touchstone in my life for several decades now. I'd often refer to her words—they were a gauge in any given situation or project. I didn’t always heed her words, to my detriment, but I came to realize when the joy left, when the song in my heart dried up, it was a clear indicator something was out of order. I needed to let it go, change it, or move on. The joy of the Lord is my strength and without his joy, my life's motivation goes out the window. Fullness of joy, or the lack of it, helps me know when I'm in the right space. It’s been a key way the Lord has guided my times and seasons.

It's that way with my writing. If a writing project pulls downward and I don’t feel a quickening in my spirit while working on it, it’s probably not a fit for me. So, what writing projects have made my heart sing?

My blog It’s A Beautiful Life is my happy place. Here I share my love for what’s beautiful and wondrous in the everyday world around us. Ever watching for glimpses of heaven in unexpected places, and when the ugly stuff is too much in our faces, I write to remind myself and others not to lose heart, not to lose sight of all that still makes our lives beautiful. If you saw my post last month, you know my heart also sings when I write handwritten notes to lift hearts, not to mention create bright spots in mailboxes stuffed with junk mail. Years ago, I had the great delight to create a monthly newsletter for consultants in the beauty industry. The Director who hired me wanted a newsletter that wasn’t only about selling product, she wanted something beautiful to inspire her team members. More recently, there's the Christmas! magazine I created and published via Blurb. Written mainly to house my cherished childhood memories of the season, it was pure delight to work on. And what a thrill to hear from readers and friends of friends expressing how my stories brought to mind their own treasured memories.

I am happiest when I can convey the beauty of God through my writing to a broken world. Helping others remember what remains sweet and beautiful beyond the pain, sorrow, and loss: ‘beauty, food and friendship, reservoirs of love and understanding’, to borrow a phrase from novelist Rosamunde Pilcher.

As a young woman, it took me years to discern what made my heart leap for joy and what I felt most passionate about. I felt the joy well up inside when I realized, at the very core, it was Beauty that made me feel the most alive. It touches something on the inside that nothing else does. The wonderment can come in wide-open skies and flowers spilling over garden paths. It manifests in glorious colours, gorgeous sentences, and spine-tingling music. It catches my delight in slices of moist chocolate cake and makes my heart squeeze with love to catch sight of peaceful faces of people asleep...even complete strangers. The list is endless. When the mystery of the beautiful stirs me, I am fully alive, and I long to share the joy of it.

Wondering if it was okay to just follow my heart, and I did wonder a lot about it in my youth, I came to see that Beauty is important to the Lord. The Psalmist reminds us to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness Ps 96:9. He beautifies the humble with salvation Ps 150:4. He longs for us to be joyful in the glory and beauty which He confers upon us Ps 150:5. In Genesis, we are told the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight or to be desired for food—the cherry blossom trees certainly bear witness to this. And in Ecclesiastes, we’re reminded He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Our eyes and souls are designed to appreciate beauty, to need beauty, like we need air and food and sunshine. I eventually came to see, and rest in it, that I could let my heart truly enjoy this great gift God has given to us earth dwellers. And to bring this love and joy of Beauty with me in whatever I do, wherever I go, whoever I see. Letting it spill into my writing.

That's what makes my heart sing. And when I write on these things, I feel His pleasure.

Top Photo: Jill Wellington from Pixabay

Inspired by the beauty of God's world around her, Brenda Leyland happily writes from her home in northerly Alberta, Canada. She writes on her blog It's A Beautiful Life and Facebook page.