Ascension

Luke 24: 50 – 53

Then he led them out of the city over to Bethany. Raising his hands he blessed them, and while blessing them, took his leave, being carried up to heaven. And they were on their knees, worshipping him. They spent all their time in the Temple praising God.

At his Ascension, Christ assures onlookers “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” Little did his disciples know that they would receive the spiritual power almost immediately after Jesus finished speaking. It came in the form of awe as the wonderstruck crowd watched as Christ rose into the heavens. Awe, it turns out, is an extremely powerful emotion.

According to a 2015 study from the University of California, Irvine, awe makes even the most selfish people want to do something good for others. “Although often fleeting and hard to describe, awe serves a vital social function,” says researchers. Awe encourages people to forgo self-interest and concern themselves with the greater good. Awe inspires people to engage in “prosocial behaviours,” such as “giving more to charity, volunteering to help others, or doing more to lessen their impact on the environment.”

The awe we feel when walking along a beach staring at the night sky, seeing a child learn to ride a bike, or watching a record-breaking athletic feat infuses us with the power to see ourselves not at the centre of the universe but as part of a greater whole, and that impels us to care and moves us toward action. Or to put all this research in Christian terms, through the awesome power of the Spirit, we become the Body of Christ.