Group 1
Question
No.6 The Awesome Mystery
Among the different experiences we shared in our group
meeting I have presented this particular experience of awesome mystery.
While I was reflecting on the awesome mystery I have
ever experience in my life I felt that, although I was never been aware of
it, I have been caught by such senses
many times. Among these experiences I was struck very much by the following
incident or event. It was two years ago
when I happened to be caught by a special experience of attraction and fear.
My brother and myself were travelling from Adigrat to
Mekelle, both are found in the northern part of Ethiopia, in a public bus and
the time was almost getting dark when we left Adigrat. What happened was that
the driver was so young and not well trained; not only that but he had two
girls sitting at his side. So he was chatting with them which prevented him
from concentrating on his way. I was not happy with that and told him to go
slowly and pay attention on the road. However, neither him nor the passengers
considered my comment. After two hours of travelling we were still in the half
way. So after expressing my fear to my brother, I begun to pray unceasingly for
our safe arrival. But unfortunately when we reached near to Mekelle our bus
went out of the road and crushed against a huge rock. I don't remember what
exactly happened on that particular moment, it was after some time that I was
aware of the situation and tried to analyze what really happen. Nothing
happened to me even I did not found a scratch in my body, immediately I search
my brother and found him helping a man who was injured badly. My brother's
right hand was injured but it was better that the others. All the travelers
including the driver were injured severely by the accident. It was at this
moment that I had experience something which I cannot explain right now. I was
so amazed, perplexed and puzzled by what had happened. I remember on that
occasion I had two different feelings; one was a feeling of happiness that
nobody died except the serious injury of the people, and that my brother and
myself were not affected much by the accident, the second feeling was a kind of
fear which overwhelmed me. Why I was frightened was that I was aware of what
was going to happened to us from the very beginning. I felt as it was God's
punishment to us.
From this incident what impressed me
very much was that I was caught by a sense of awesome mystery. I felt something
extraordinary sense, I was so emotional and could not control myself. I began
to cry, shout and pray loudly. The way I was saved astounded me very much,
cause all those who were in my right and left were all victim. That, my safety,
was for me the work of the almighty God. Finally the way I reacted towards the
people in assisting them and all I was
doing at that right moment was an extraordinary experience. This was for me a
fascinating and awesome mystery in my life.
Group One:
1. Tirfe
Teka; 2. Musonda
John; 3. Mutinda
Stephen Mutuku; 4. Oraegbunam
Joseph; 5. Mehari
Habte; 6. Kuroma
Augustine
Minutes by: Chiemeka
Utazi
The
idea of the Holy
The awesome mystery is usually described in
religious tradition and scripture as “holy,” –“set apart”- to distinguish it
from other human experiences. Experiencing the fullness of God includes the
rational and the non-rational aspect of the religious experience. Awesome
mystery is thus the deepest and most fundamental element in all strong sincerely
felt religious emotion.
Ø Mysterium
Tremendum’ (The Analysis of ‘Tremendum’)
1.
The
Element of Awefulness — A sense
of supernatural dread in varying stages from the feeling of something strange to
a fear of God. This is similar to an inward trembling from a sense of awe than
natural fear. Such feelings may arise in response to an encounter with demons
or ghosts, or of the wrath of God.
2.
The
Element of ‘Overpoweringness’
— A sense of majesty that in its very power or might evokes a feeling of the
submergence of the self before the divine transcendence. This humility (seeing
oneself as nothing and God as all), is the foundation of true identification of
the self with the transcendent reality.
3.
The
Element of ‘Energy’ or Urgency
— The factor that prompts the fiercest opposition to the merely rational god of
the philosophers. Vitality, passion, emotional temper, will, force, movement,
excitement, activity, and impetus are characteristic of a living God who is a
‘consuming fire.’
4.
The
‘Wholly Other’ — That which is beyond the sphere
of the familiar and the intelligible, which therefore falls outside the limits
of the canny, and is contrasted with it, filling the mind with blank wonder and
astonishment.
5.
The
Element of Fascination — The
creature, at the same moment as he trembles before the transcendent, seeks to
turn to it and make it his own. Love, mercy, comfort, and even salvation are
the rational parallels of this element that make possession of and by the holy
something to be sought for its own sake.
Comments: Human beings do experience the fear of holy things (John
Bosco at nine), which are not ordinary. In our vocation story, there is a
divine experience that transforms us, an experience of grace. These are
experiences that are inexpressible, like the experience of the resurrection. It
is an experience that draws us much closer to God.
Contributors:
Owuor Eric, Ekugba
Chikezies
Ephraim
C. Onwuzulu, Muza Simbarashe
Mukuka
Chilufya, Onwuzulu Ephraim
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