• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Skip to footer navigation

  • Calendar of events
  • 687 Larch Av, Teaneck NJ
  • 201-836-5187
  • Contact Us
  • DONATE
Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County NJ

Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County NJ

  • Home
  • About
    • Platform
    • FAQ
      • How does Ethical Culture make a difference in society?
      • What social life is there in Ethical Culture?
      • How is Ethical Culture religious?
    • Ethical Brew
    • Ceremonies
    • Philosophy
    • Constitution & Bylaws
    • Contact Us
  • Ethical Kids
    • Sunday School
      • Primary Class
      • Elementary Class
      • Junior Class
      • Senior Class
      • Sunday school FAQ
    • Youth Group
  • Leader
    • Leader Curt Collier
    • Leader’s Talks
    • Joe Chuman, Retired Leader
      • Talks by Dr Joseph Chuman
      • Speaking of Ethics: Living a Humanist Life
      • Wedding Officiant
  • Social Action
    • All Social Action Articles
    • Battling Racism
    • Environmental Action
    • Healthcare
  • Adult Ed
    • Job Club
    • Socrates Cafe
    • Ethical Culture Review of Books
  • News
    • President Column
    • UN Report
    • Platform Addresses
  • Events

Wondrous Moments Transform Us and Our View of the World

December 19, 2021

By Curt Collier

I love a winter sky… far more interesting than the paltry display of summer. Sure, Scorpio looks great with its bright red eye (Antares) observed from a meadow in Yellowstone during August, but that is no comparison to the red eye (Aldebaran) of Taurus pitched between Orion and the Pleiades. I’m smitten. It’s not just the constellations that grace a winter sky. Perhaps due to the sudden drop in humidity, the sky comes alive in the winter. Each evening as I take our pet for her nightly patrol of the neighborhood, her eyes are drawn to the cavalcade of smells arising from a neighbor’s Ligustrum, while my eyes are drawn ever upward. It’s there I reorient myself to the world each evening. There’s Polaris in the north, Orion’s sword pointing south, and a parade of planets from east to west. (Look up to see Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter all in a row). There is, however, another reason I like a winter sky.  

Milky Way
The Milky Way above Earth’s horizon, photographed from the International Space Station, 2021. Courtesy of NASA

My father went to work each morning at 5, and he passed through my brother’s and my room on the way to his old Buick (our room was once a garage). In 1966, Victoria, Texas, was still a fairly sleepy town and on that cool November night, the thick humid haze had lifted, revealing more of the night sky. I remember being awakened from my sleep by my father, who was quickly wrapping us in our Navajo-print blankets. “Come outside quickly!” he said excitedly. “Meteors!” He ran through the house waking my siblings and mom and soon all of us were standing on the carport gazing upward. And what a sight! This was the great Leonid meteor shower of 1966, when meteors rained down 50 per second. It was awe-inspiring and a little scary. “I don’t understand.” I remember asking my dad, “What is going on?” Unless you’ve seen such a meteor “storm,” it’s difficult to describe. It was like standing under a clear umbrella as streaks of shimmering rain were flowing down on all sides at a high rate. Our planet had rotated into the direction of the bits of debris projected off the Tempel-Tuttle comet, and we were headed right into that stream. The vision is etched into my memory.

Such an astronomical spectacle

I’ve tried to explain it to others, but unless you’ve seen it, it is indeed hard to imagine. It’s not like most people have seen such an astronomical spectacle, and so they tell you some story about a meteorite they once saw streak across the lake where their family had gone camping. Cool, to be sure, but not the same thing. For example, I had the privilege of seeing a total solar eclipse a few years back and all I want to do is to see it again. There we all sat chatting in a field in Grand Teton when suddenly (it happens extremely fast) a whole punched into the sky and a bright ring appeared. We all began screaming and running east toward this splendor. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen…and I, too, was running, shouting, and wanting to embrace this wonder. Sometimes, it’s all I can think about. (Get ready, another is coming in 2025. Sell everything you have if you need to and reserve your spot in Pennsylvania or upstate New York). I have friends in Texas who saw a partial eclipse. They said it was kind of neat, also. Not even close to what we were experiencing, those of us lucky enough to be in the path of totality. It’s like comparing the glow off a lighted billboard along Highway 80 to seeing the aurora borealis.  

OK, this might all sound a little too geeky (don’t care), but I think it’s important to know where you get your supply of wondrous moments. We need them in our lives, those instances with extraordinary beauty and surprise that remind us that life can be pretty amazing. 

Hopefully, you carry them in your consciousness like a string of pearls, a collection of precious bobbles that adorn your essence. 

Curiosity, contemplation, and joy

The psychologist Dr. Neel Burton explains that “Wonder is a complex emotion involving elements of surprise, curiosity, contemplation, and joy. It is perhaps best defined as a heightened state of consciousness and emotion brought about by something singularly beautiful, rare, or unexpected—that is, by a marvel.”  

Dr. Burton argues that wonder renders our perception of the world and allows for new ideas and new thinking to take root in the gap. Thus, it’s not only a momentary experience of beauty or awe, but an opportunity to reexamine our world and perhaps expand that vista.  

Perhaps that’s what happened to me in 1966 when I told my dad “I don’t understand” upon seeing the Leonid meteor shower. Somehow the starry sky was alive in ways I didn’t know were possible. I never looked at the night sky the same way and it deepened my love of science, which has opened me up to even more wonders.  

And so, yes indeed, moments of wonder are necessary. What inspires you will surely be different than what inspires me, and I look forward to hearing your own stories of marvel. What a great way to pass the winter indoors, sharing these exquisite bobbles with our friends and watching their faces light up as our heart begins to race and our voice trembles a little as we recall the vision with excitement. Perhaps your world, too, was enlarged by these events. We need these moments to stretch our imagination. So I ask once again, where do you get your supply of wonder?

Curt Collier is interim leader of the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County.

Primary Sidebar

Recent News

  • Society Gets Grant to Explore Concept of ‘Sacred Spaces’
  • Church-State Separation: Who Stands to Lose if the Wall Fails?
  • Two Grants Help Fund ‘Great NJ Science Show’
  • Meet Our Newest Members, Andy and Deborah Krikun
  • Struggle over Church-State Separation has Deep Roots in America

Sign up for our newsletter.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

We believe in ethics. We believe in people.

Please believe in us.

Ethical Brew

Being White And Its Hidden Assumptions

‘How Race Impacts Conservation’

About Us

Ethical Culture was founded to focus on community and good works, rather than personal salvation. Read more…

Archives

Footer

Connect with Us

Address: 687 Larch Ave, Teaneck, NJ 07666
Phone: 201-836-5187
Email: [email protected]

Sign up for our newsletter.

 

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Society Gets Grant to Explore Concept of ‘Sacred Spaces’ January 31, 2023
  • Church-State Separation: Who Stands to Lose if the Wall Fails? January 30, 2023
  • Two Grants Help Fund ‘Great NJ Science Show’ January 29, 2023
  • Meet Our Newest Members, Andy and Deborah Krikun January 29, 2023
  • Struggle over Church-State Separation has Deep Roots in America January 28, 2023

We believe in ethics. We believe in people.

Please believe in us.

Topics

atheism atheist church book review children church-state separation civil rights climate change community compassion death democracy Doris Friedensohn Elizabeth Warren environment Ethical Brew Ethical Culture ethical education ethics family Felix Adler gender global warming happiness healthcare humanism humanist humanists human rights Israel Joseph Chuman meetinghouse Middle East politics racism religion Robert Gulack Secular Humanism social action Socrates Cafe Sunday School technology Trump unemployment world health youth

What We Do For Fun….

There's always time for play: celebrations, discussions (some in Spanish -- find Conversemos on our calendar on the fourth Tuesday of the month), hikes, picnics, cultural outings, and more. Come join us!
Kids get into the act
Diane running the show

Important Links

  • Member of the American Ethical Union
  • Ethical Brew
  • Sanctuary Committee
  • BC Gun Violence Prevention
  • NJ Website Designer
© 2021 | The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County NJ

Copyright © 2023 · Kreativ Pro On Genesis Framework · The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County · Log in

  • Calendar of events
  • 687 Larch Av, Teaneck NJ
  • 201-836-5187
  • Contact Us
  • DONATE