The Grand Canyon. Mount Kilimanjaro. The Fjords of Norway. The endless dunes of the Sahara.

Our planet is filled with places that invoke a sense of awe; areas that are beautiful, majestic, and terrifying all at once.

Humanity has felt awe since time began - however, awe has only recently been acknowledged by our contemporary world as an emotion.

It's not just any emotion either - awe has been shown to enhance our well-being. Awe is good for us.

Awe adjusts our perspective, and helps us get "outside" of ourselves. It puts us in our place, in relation to something bigger, something more wonderful.

Awe can be anywhere. Awe can be anything. And the Christain scriptures tell us we can get close up and personal with the ultimate source of awe - the God of all creation - on a daily basis.

What are we waiting for?

"You care for the land and water it;
 you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
 to provide the people with grain,
 for so you have ordained it.
You drench its furrows and level its ridges;

 you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

You crown the year with your bounty,

and your carts overflow with abundance.
The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;

 the hills are clothed with gladness.
The meadows are covered with flocks

 And the valleys are mantled with grain;
 they shout for joy and sing."

Psalm 65: 9-13

It’s the challenging times of growth in the leaner months that create a tree's fingerprint, making it possible to find out the name of a shipwreck, reveal the identity, or uncover the truth of the history of a tree. 

Walking feels good for us because it is good for us.

It's not just a luxury, but a necessity for our well-being. This was never more apparent than during the lockdowns of 2020-2021.

Walking is mundane but beneficial - both physically, but also for our connection to the world.

No matter how momentary or trivial it may seem, bumping into someone on the street and talking to them does us a world of good.

With societal loneliness at an all-time high, getting out for a walk is now more important than ever.

Research is increasingly showing that walking helps improve strength, emotional well-being, and even memory.

It's no surprise that the Christain scriptures hold walking as the greatest importance.

Christians are encouraged to walk in the light, walk in the truth, and yield to God in every step of every walk.

Because a walk with the Father is where the deepest connection, and truest health, can be found.

"For You have delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living." Pslam 56:13

When we look at the city what do we see?

Do we see busyness, progress, and exciting opportunities? Or do we look deeper, and think about the land underneath the glass, concrete, and metal forests we've built?

Cities are transient - people ebb and flow into them like the tide.

They also pose the question: what is it we're building with our own lives? Are they things lasting, or sandcastles that will topple with the next wave?

And as we build our cities, how close are we to the life-giving water that nourishes us? 

"Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of Lords: His love endures forever." Psalm 136: 1-3

We all want to be productive.

To write to-do lists. To clear the inbox. To get things done.

We see productivity as critical to growth; if we can harness our productive potential then surely we'll grow richer, stronger, and healthier.

But what if our obsession with productivity becomes ... unproductive?

Have we forgotten how to let the mind wander? Have we forgotten how to dream?

Greater awareness of oneself. Consolidation of memories. Moral reasoning. Planning for the future. These all come from daydreaming.

Because after all, daydreaming is essential for the making of meaning.

Music, art, books, and ideas all come from daydreaming. But these are again productive - and non-essential for valuing human life.

The Christian scriptures encourage us to wonder about the big questions, and not to pursue mindless productivity.

They appeal to us to imagine a safe life, flourishing under the protection of God's care.

The scriptures invite us home, and show us how to live as we were made to; not mired in productivity, but marked by rest, hope, and goodness.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths For his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" - Psalm 23

"There is not one little blade of grass, there is no colour in this world that is not intended to make men rejoice." John Calvin

Grass is found on every continent on Earth. Over 11,000 species of different grass exist. 

It's ever-present, but it's easy not to see it at all.

How do we see the grass? Is it just a patch out the front of our home? Is it something that we walk on to get somewhere more important? How can it possibly bring us joy?

Perhaps we need to see our own lives like that of a blade of grass. Fleeting, but beautiful nevertheless.

Maybe we can be inspired by how a blade of grass lives; constantly drinking in light, growing more beautiful every day.

The beauty of grass is made possible by the light. Without it, there is nothing.

A blade of grass lives only a handful of days - but those days are spent in the light, which is freely available - as it is to us.

What are we growing toward as we live our lives?

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12

The desire for the good life has never been stronger - and yet, the world and our bodies are surrounded by chemicals that are silently harming us.

Medications can be poisonous. Sometimes, the cure is the cause of harm.

How do we know if what we're pursuing is turning out for our good?

We need to break the chains that prevent us from living a truly, healthy life - but to do that, we have to first acknowledge that those chains exist.

Just like harmful chemicals in the air, our sin is all around us, and if we allow it, it can trap us.

Are we willing to let God break the chains that can hold us down?

When we admit the problem, then the remedy comes.

Here's the confession, taken from the Book of Common Prayer that was read out in the episode

"Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done, and there is no health in us.

"But thou oh Lord have mercy on us miserable offenders. Spare thou those, Oh God, who confess their faults. Restore thou those who are penitent, according to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord, and grant, oh most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may hereafter live a Godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of thy Holy name."

And from Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Do we really know who we are?

The human heart has two conditions: in and down, or out and up. In and down - seeking the self, or up and out - seeking God.

Curves are everywhere - from trees to shells, clouds to hurricanes, and galaxies to black holes - curves are embedded in the universe. Even music follows the shape of a curve.

Augustine talks about curves in his City of God. Martin Luther echoes his thoughts, describing the human condition as curved inward - toward the self. Inward curves are ruinous. Outward curves are life-giving.

We're born in a curve - but do we know which way our curve grows?

If we allow it, our curve can be remade, and refashioned, by the Holy Spirit. There's no end to the good that can come from such a curve.

"And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."
2 Corinthians 5: 15

"Bird watching isn't just about birds, it's also about those doing the watching ... in watching birds there seems to be a complete lack of idleness."

Bird watching takes us to new places. Some watches might travel the world to see rare birds in faraway locations - "slow birders" might just look for birds in their own neighbourhood - but both will discover something new when observing these creatures.

Even if we never see a bird in our watching, the act itself is calming, meditative, and a new way of seeing the world.

We don't need expensive gear to watch birds - but we need time, and the willingness to sit, wait, and watch.

Even Jesus urged us in the Sermon on the Mount to consider the birds.

Bird-watching won't change the world - but it can change us.

"Don't worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" - Matthew 6: 25-27

Being able to discern the difference between light and dark is essential for reading. And, this sensitivity is also necessary for navigating our way through many things in daily life.

In the first episode of Season 2, Laurel Moffatt explores the wonder of reading - a complex skill that we so commonly take for granted.

Dwelling on Augustine - a man whose life was changed forever from reading one chapter of a book - she asks what would happen if we read outside in the light, and expose our ignorance.

Learning to read might lead us to learn to live anew.

"As I was . . . weeping in the bitter agony of my heart, suddenly I heard a voice from the nearby house chanting. . . saying and repeating over and over again “Pick up and read, pick up and read.”  

Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, 397-400 AD