Getting to awe

The magi have arrived, bearing gifts, after their long, arduous journey. As I wrote the other day, as pilgrims they made their journey looking for a source of awe.

Sometimes I think we all have lost that sense of awe toward God in a world that is so full of distractions, it's difficult to even lift our gaze toward spiritual things. Our eyes are fixed on iPods, tech devices, computer screens more than ever and less on each other, and as for prayer and talking to God, many of us say we don't have time or, if we do, precious little, for our Creator and Savior. (Of course adding those last two words puts a perspective on it that makes the statement rather inane.)

Yet, with a bit of thought, it takes very little to get to awe. Just thinking about the fact that God is omnipresent, for example, makes me feel awe. He is everywhere. Not just in the sense of everywhere as we think of it - in our homes, our offices, the store, etc. but also in our heads. Call it mind reading or thought recognition, but God is all knowing or, as I used to write out in grammar school All Knowing.Which means He knows why we 'don't have time' for prayer and communication with Him.

Of course He knew the magi were coming. He knew they were bearing gifts. He also knows what gifts and talents we bring to the table. He knows whether we use them or not. There are opportunities put in front of us every day to do so and He leaves it up to us to make choices. We can make the pilgrimage, take the journey or go another route. We can choose convenience and the express lane. We can go to bed without praying, wake up without expressing our gratitude and live as if we don't have a Creator or Savior and don't know him.

We can choose not to get to awe.

On this day, as the magi arrive, I'm spending some time thinking about what's getting between me and awe. I wonder where unnecessary limits in my life arise and how to deal with those. I'm thinking about ways I miss opportunities to get to awe. I'm checking my road map with a different kind of GPS - not for the fastest physical route, but the best spiritual one, the one where I can be of most service to my brothers and sisters in Christ. That's the road I need to travel. I know if I listen closely and take God's direction, I'll find it.