Monday, April 01, 2013

A is for . . . Awe

My dearest darlings,

As I write this, you, La Niña, are just two days short of your fifth birthday, and you, El Niño, just three days past your second one. You are both enjoying your childhoods. 

For you, La Niña, the challenge of life involves mastering, among other things, the English alphabet. Your childish voice recites the ABC in a singsong voice and your brother is quick to learn from you. He joins you, snatches of letters popping up here and there, but the tune is perfect.

I watch you with a strange mixture of pride and sadness. How fast you have grown! Before I know it, you will go out into the world, make your own friends and opinions. I wish I could always be with you to protect you. 

Since that is not possible, here's the next best thing. Starting today, we shall go over the alphabet, with a difference. Mamma will share her feeble wisdom with you, from A through Z. These posts are not all there is to know about life and living. We will continue our lessons in the real world. 

You won't be reading any of this untiI many years later. But I am anxious to get started. I have so much to share with you. And so without any fanfare or drumroll, here we go.


Image courtesy: Raj Manchekar

La Niña, your ABC book says, A is for Aeroplane. In my book, A is for Awe. I remember the first time I sat in an aeroplane. How awed I was at the fact that this huge contraption with me and so many others in it was actually going to fly through the air over long distances. The sense of awe occasioned then diminished as I flew more regularly.

But the awe I feel when I see a beautiful sunset or the awe I feel every time the Konkan Kanya Express glides through the majestic Konkan region has stayed with me. The feeling probably comes from witnessing a creation that is so beautiful and perfect only God could have made it.

I pray that you too may see many such sights that are part of nature's bounty. I pray that these sights may take your breath away, and that the very memory may cause you to feel uplifted in both heart and soul. May they remind you that God exists and that the fact of God's existence is announced to us most spectacularly every second of every day of our lives.

I don't have to remind you children to feel awe. Children, more than adults, see magic in the ordinariness of the world. The beauty of the stars, the rains, a little worm, a blade of grass, everything makes you feel awe. Only you see it as wonder. 

My wish for you is that even as grownups, you may never allow everyday life to distract you from the fact that we are viewing God's art gallery, breathing in His theatre, living the greatest motion picture in the world. There is mystery, delight and poetry here. Just make sure that your sense of awe lasts throughout your time.

I'll see you again tomorrow. Same place. B there. :)




39 comments:

  1. Wow! Love your theme for this challenge. And what a beautiful lesson you are sharing with the little ones! Awesome. :)

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  2. Thank you, Shilpa. The idea for the theme was just perfect for me. I am so glad you liked it.

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  3. Wow what a lovely way to do the challenge ! I look forward to all your posts now !
    I felt awe this morning I as I looked at the perfectly formed petals of the Harsingar flower. Such lovely fragrance, coming from such a small flower !

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  4. That's right, Ruchira. Once you adjust your vision sufficiently and prepare yourself to feel awe, it makes such a difference to an ordinary day. My kids taught me that.

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  5. Fabulous theme. And yes, being awe struck even at mundane things is what we can imbibe from kids. Looking forward to reading the rest in the series.

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  6. Beautiful Cynthia. In the mad rush we forget to even stop by and feel awe at the simple pleasures of life. As of now I am awed by this post. Lovely. Looking fwd to read more

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  7. Thank you, Vinita. Glad to have you around. I wish you many moments of sheer awe.

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  8. You are so sweet to say that, Afshan. I think as adults there is a lot that we miss out on. Losing the sense of awe is a sad thing to happen to anyone.

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  9. This is such a cool idea, Cynthia. Love it. I always pray that kids (and adults) never lose their sense of awe - it makes life so much richer!

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  10. Wow, this is such a wonderful letter to your children (and for us readers to appreciate too!) A is for Awesome ;)

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  11. Loved this...a nice reminder...though I haven't really lost feeling this...preoccupation certainly robs the fun.

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  12. Thank you, Corinne. Having a sense of awe does make life far more beautiful. I'd lost my sense of wonder and awe for a while. Fortunately, the kids rescued me.

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  13. Thank you, Melanie. I've been toying with the idea of writing letters to my kids for a while now. The A to Z Challenge gave me the perfect opportunity. It's a pity they can't read my posts yet. :)

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  14. Wow! Janu, I'm glad to know that you have never stopped feeling that sense of awe. Thanks for stopping by.

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  15. wowee- nice theme cynthia ; looking forward till Z

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  16. What a beautifully written post! I am awed.

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  17. That was an awe-some read, Cynthia. Bless you and Los Ninos.

    :-)

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  18. Cute post, Cynthia! I also love listening to my kids sing nursery rhymes!

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  19. Ever so true, children see magic in the ordinariness of the world. Dropping by from AtoZ.

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  20. Thank you, Roshni. I read somewhere that children who are listened to attentively grow up to be more confident than those whose parents don't have time for their childish prattle. Big A and little A are lucky to have you.

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  21. May we adults too learn to see magic around us. Thank you for stopping by, Suzy.

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  22. oh the first time I sat in plane... I was so so so excited and a good lesson taught :)

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  23. Loved your idea Cynthia.... this is simply very interesting... will be back for more :)

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  24. Great effort, Cynthia, Way to go. I liked your heartfelt chatty style.

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  25. Thank you, Sunil. Your encouraging words mean a lot to me.

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  26. this is beautiful :)

    auntyamo
    http://ficticiousamo.wordpress.com/

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  27. This is the second blog I've found where the writer is writing for their children to read in the future. It's a beautiful idea! :)

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  28. Thank you, Border-breaking bound. I guess parents have a natural desire to share all their learning with their children. At least my series stemmed from that desire. Welcome to my blog.

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  29. Glad to see I was not the only person who went with AWE. Love all the hope in this post.

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  30. Thank you, Stratoz. I guess we both recognised that Awe was the right way to start a challenge of this kind.

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