Many assume that non-theists’ focus on the physical world, instead of a supernatural outlook, takes away our ability to experience wonder and awe in our lives. But we don’t need to revere a deity or await an afterlife to appreciate all that we can enjoy now. As the Humanist Manifesto III explains, humanists find “wonder and awe in the joys and beauties of human existence, its challenges and tragedies, and even in the inevitability and finality of death.” Dr. Anthony Pinn, in his latest book, adds that our wonder “is tied to the mysteries of the world—the beautiful and tremendous power of the physical universe, which serves as a reminder that humans are a small part of something big and powerful.”
While humanists spend a lot of time and energy addressing life’s injustices, we also celebrate life’s joys and amazements. Here are some examples from the American Humanist Association reflecting on what makes us happy to be human and what brings us hope:
To me, the thing that often gives me pause and time to reflect are relationships that we build throughout our lives. Whether they’re with family, friends, a partner, business relationships—thinking about our social interactions and how we navigate the world individually and collectively always reminds me of the awesomeness of being human. I also like to think fondly of the people in my past who have made an impact on me, and reflect on how their words or actions have helped shape my personal growth.
—David Reinbold, AHA Communications Manager
The greatest thing about being a human is our ability to believe. This may be ironic coming from an atheist, but…religion and belief are not synonymous…Belief is the great “what if,” the genesis of creativity, the vision of tomorrow. Belief made us wonder why, which led to what if experimentation, knowledge, mathematics, and science—the building blocks of civilization. The down side of belief is when it doesn’t give birth to wonder, knowledge, and growth [i.e., stagnation of belief leading to superstition, ignorance, prejudice, and fear]. Animals can reason and have self-consciousness, emotions, even language and communications. But they can never imagine the world anew and then create it.
—Kwame Teague, an incarcerated humanist who worked with AHA’s legal team to fight for the right to have a humanist prison chapter in North Carolina
Humor keeps me going and connects me with others. Getting a child to smile and giggle feels so rewarding. Jokes can be relationship-building and thought-provoking. Puns and riddles stretch our understanding of language, and sarcasm challenges our sense of truth.
—Emily Newman, AHA Senior Education Coordinator
We [my wife and I] spend the summer season at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York and were present in the amphitheater (“the Amp”) when Salman Rushdie was viciously assaulted on August 12, 2022. Recalling the horror of seeing the string of rapid stabbings still makes me shiver. But the memory of what happened next fills me with awe. Several people in the front rows of the Amp ran, not away from the carnage, but toward it. One of them was our 83-year-old neighbor, Sonny, who leapt on the stage and helped subdue the assailant. When I asked Sonny what made him do it, he just replied, “Somebody had to.” Last week, we again sat in the Amp, listening to the morning lecture. The speaker said that one of the most awe-inspiring experiences humans can have is witnessing “moral beauty.” Two years earlier, we had seen “moral beauty” from the same place we were now sitting, and it happened in the same place he was now standing. We felt the awe all over again.
—John B. Hooper, Vice President of the AHA board and organizer of two AHA chapters: Humanist Community at Chautauqua and Pittsburgh Freethought Community
Where do you find awe and wonder in the world? We’d love to include in a future article.
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