Awe and Moral Beauty
In The Shape of Joy I discuss the science of awe, the mental health and social benefits of radical amazement and wonder. As described by the psychologist Dacher Keltner, we experience awe and wonder in seven locations in life:
Nature: Encounters with the vastness, complexity, or beauty of the natural world, like mountains, oceans, or sunsets.
Collective Effervescence: The energy and unity felt in group experiences, such as during concerts, sports events, or religious ceremonies.
Moral Beauty: Experiencing the goodness or courage of others, such as acts of kindness, altruism, or resilience.
Music: The emotional and transformative power of music.
Visual Design: Art, architecture, or other creative expressions that showcase human ingenuity and beauty.
Life and Death: Moments of profound realization around birth, growth, mortality, and the cycle of life.
Epiphany: Sudden insights, breakthroughs, or spiritual experiences that shift perspectives or provide clarity.
In The Shape of Joy I make the argument that transcendence is good for you, psychologically and relationally. The science of awe is a critical piece of that argument. And one of the most interesting findings from the research on awe concerns the main location where we experience wonder. You might think it would be nature. But according to Keltner's research, our main experience with awe comes from encounters with moral beauty. Witnessing goodness is where we most experience wonder. Love is more amazing than a scenic mountaintop.
As I describe it in The Shape of Joy, this finding about awe and moral beauty suggests that there is something in human consciousness that is sensitive to value itself. Add in music, art, nature, and epiphanies and you have the human soul responding to the three transcendentals. The true, the beautiful, and the good. And in the radical amazement we experience in our relationship with the transcendentals we also find ourselves drawn into peace and love.
Human life flourishes when it lives in relationship with transcendence, a horizon of the true, the beautiful, and the good.
Richard, that's why you and I choked up at Sam's return to Rosie and Elanor at the very end of The Lord Of The Rings.
There's an interesting thing in the English language: something is awesome if we want it to experience it again, but something that is full of awe, that is, awe-full, our response is rather different. Some awe is wonderful but the fullness of awe is awful, overwhelming and even fearful. Yet for the Christian that awe-full-ness is what we were made for; to someday see God face-to-face.
The image of the appearance of angels as cheerful innocent little cherubs is rather dispelled when the Bible reports that angelic appearances are often accompanied by fear. Luke 2:9-14 reports that the angel appeared to the shepherds announcing Jesus' birth with "Be not afraid!" and goes on to bring on "a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God" reminiscent of the image of the heavenly worship in Rev 4. It's hard to imagine what that must have felt like for them!