In Awe

Have you ever had a moment when you stood in awe at the utter perfection of something? Many have been so taken by the subtlety and beauty of something in nature for example, that it literally took their breath away. Others have been privileged to hear music or poetry that epitomised for them the pinnacle of perfection. And for others, the perfection they found may have been as mundane and ordinary as realising the ingenuity behind the design of a structurally sound bridge, or the subtlety of a well-written essay, or a masterfully written computer program, or observing the perfect timing of a well run airline. They may be very mundane things, but they are neverthelss examples of excellence and perfection that have the power to spur us on to ever greater things. Has something like this ever happened to you? Have you ever stopped in awe at something truly amazing, and felt how small you were before the subtlety or majesty of what you experienced?
 
There is a certain refinement about the operation of natural law that surpasses anything we can reproduce. It is all around us and not hard to see. We may of course not see it at first, but take a closer look..., in fact take a really close look..., and you’ll see, as with any fractal design, perfection upon perfection manifesting in nature, like Russian dolls, each a clone of perfection on a scale different from the rest, from the smallest to the greatest. From the virus to the amoeba, to the ant, to the whale, to the solar system, to the Milky-Way galaxy, and on to the whole universe, there exists a veritable myriad of examples of perfection for all who truly wish to perceive them.
 
So…, if we can see perfection “out there”, is it not possible that perfection exists “in here” too, within our own beings? Although we can't see it, is it not logical that if there is so much perfection and refinement in nature all around us, surely some of that perfection must exist within us too…, if only we could connect to it? Not only perfection in physical terms but in more complex ways like the words we speak, the thoughts we harbour, the emotions we experience, the spiritual realisations we have. All these point towards something truly awesome…, the possibility of mastery over our lives…, mastery over our personal destinies…, indeed mastery over the entire reality of the short life we are privileged to experience on earth.