Emberlight 2026–2027 Values Series: Awe & Gratitude

Continuing with our Respect for All Beings series, we shine the light on Awe and Gratitude.

Think of a time when you felt awe. What happened in your body, your heart? Did you also feel gratitude for that moment, for what stirred your wonder, for life itself? Awe and gratitude are inseparable and transformative.

Great thinkers throughout time have recognized this. The Jewish theologian and author of God in Search of Man, Abraham Joshua Heschel, wrote: "Awe is more than an emotion; it is a way of understanding, insight into a meaning greater than ourselves. The beginning of awe is wonder, and the beginning of wisdom is awe. Awe is an intuition for the dignity of all things, a realization that things are not only what they are but also stand, however remotely, for something supreme."

As Oprah Winfrey has said, "The more you praise and celebrate life, the more you have in life to celebrate." Awe and gratitude take us out of the mundane into a bigger picture, into the mystery and gifts of life itself.

We have the privilege here at Emberlight of being filled with awe and gratitude, holding space in the suites for life itself, walking in the beauty of nature on these grounds, and resting in the soul-to-soul resonance with fellow volunteers. It requires being fully present, drinking in all that the moment is offering, allowing all else from the day to fall away, and being transported to our expanded selves.

One of the poems that came through me, It's Amazing!, speaks to that expanded awareness, the awe that reveals the incredible gift and possibilities of being human. Click on the arrow next to the

title to read the poem.

IT’S AMAZING! By Kathryn Brewer, July 20, 2023

Walking this Earth, we can be immersed

In only what we notice at first:The beauty of nature sings our heart; 

Love of/from another will impartJoy and sense that nothing else exists; 

Even with pain our focus persists.

Yet, when we pull back our focused gaze 

And see beyond the limited haze,We open to feel we’re not alone.All past experience is outshone

By the light of connection that’s real 

To higher aspects light will reveal.

Our timeless Being that chose this lifeTo expand our soul through joy and strife, 

Knowing the privilege Earth life brings 

For experiences giving wings 

To rising into our wondrous placeOf closer connection to Source’s Grace.

On this journey when eyes are open 

And old single focus is broken,We receive unseen co-creators, 

Delighted to be our translators

Of Higher Wisdom that’s really ours, 

Yet beyond access by brain powers.

And even better, more astounding, 

Is taking note of what’s surrounding 

Each situations’ orchestrationOf exactly what transformationOur Higher Wisdom has just ordered 

To assist our Soul’s moving forward.

When you have chosen to clear the decks 

Of past unfinished business’ effects,And marshalled the courage to release 

Old programmed reactions and beliefs, 

The Universe can orchestrate now

As much joy and peace as you allow.

Share with attribution: kathryn@kathrynbrewer.com

Awe opens doors to new perceptions and new awareness of the connections and order in all life, all beings. It helps deepen our Respect for All Beings, including ourselves.

In these times of chaos, gratitude and appreciation for what we have in the moment, whether sun or rain, challenge or ease, joy or grief, is the door to the love that awaits. It opens space for greater awareness of what is nurturing to us and for solutions beyond our narrow past view.

There are so many challenges in life that we cannot change. Yet life itself, if we open to see the daily magic, even within our own bodies and the nature around us, offers constant opportunity for awe and gratitude, and therefore for joy, and the manifestation of more joy.

How has Emberlight gifted you with moments of awe or gratitude?

Emberlight's values series is brought to you by the BE= belonging + equity team and this month’s offering was written by Kathryn Brewer.