Pedal of Wonder and Awe
I recently went with my friends, Denise Morrison-Olson and Marcia Monaco, to see author Rob Bell at the Tattered Cover book store. Mr. Bell was a pastor who has written several books about the Bible and spirituality, including Velvet Elvis and Love Wins. He is promoting his new book called What is the Bible? He suggests a celebration of God and spirituality that is free of the dogma that plagues western religions.
His perspective about religion is very similar to mine. I must say, I loved my experience growing up Catholic, thanks to the open-minded priests and parents that I was lucky enough to have. But after a life-time of studying many religions and spiritual practices including shamanism and Buddhism and reading various sacred texts, I have a deep inner truth that is broader than the Catholic teachings and rules.
Life on Earth is Great
Well, the event was less about dissing religions and more about being amazed at how great our life is on this earth. It was about celebrating the many choices we get to make every day. He suggested we take our own Bible and read it, interpret it and apply it in a way that feels right to us. He encouraged having people over for dinner and chatting about it—sounds sort of like a book club, right? The celebration of God in our lives doesn’t have to be confined to a physical structure like a church, but can be a love-filled gathering of people virtually anywhere. I Love that!
The best part of the night was a basic discussion of life and how we are the drivers. Envision two pedals in you car. One is the pedal of skepticism, frustration and judgement. We press down hard on that one every day. Is there a moment in our day that we are not evaluating it as good, bad, frustrating, stressful, productive—some form of evaluation? Does it help us to judge and evaluate everything? I suspect not. I have been experimenting with non-judgement and find myself in a better state because of it.
Pedal of Wonder
Imagine another pedal called “wonder and awe.” How about we press down on that wonder and awe pedal instead and see where that takes us? Don’t think too much into it. Just imagine pressing on that pedal when you get up in the morning. In fact, envision the TWO pedals next to each other. The left pedal is frustration & evaluation and the right pedal is wonder & awe. In your mind, visualize yourself CHOOSING the “right” pedal, WONDER & AWE. That sets a fantastic intention for the day.
I definitely want to hear what results. PLEASE share your experiences below or on Facebook.