What if We Become Radically Amazed?

Mid-April — Oak Tree, Pemaquid, ME

I’ve been wondering what habits, patterns, mindsets will remain post-COVID and which will just go away. There is one habit I’m trying to keep and I invite you to make it part of your ‘new norm’ too. It’s the habit of Radical Amazement. What the heck is that, you ask. Well, I shall answer! Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (one of my all time sages) winsomely said, ““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.” Why? Because “Mankind will not perish for want of information; but only for want of appreciation.”*

“Mackerel Sky” so named as it looks like the scales of a mackerel, Pemaquid, ME

Please join me in Radical Amazement. Today, this week, just go outside for a few minutes and look around — take a short walk, look at the trees, grass, flowers, creatures, everything and anything, feel the breeze, cherish the stillness, and dwell in some radical amazement to rejuvenate your mind and soul … to appreciate all that we have and are despite everything, all that remains glorious despite us. And if you’re willing, share it with me here. I wish you the joy and serenity of Radical Amazement.

• Abraham Joshua Heschel’s “G-d In Search of Man”

Oaks against the sky — never, ever, ever, gets old