Mystery and Awe

Back in my college days at Grinnell, I took courses in philosophy and in Jewish philosophy. One of the authors I studied was Abraham Heschel. He was a Rabbi and scholar who looked at the deeper meaning of our relationship to God (or the mystery).

Following a recent training in Family Constellations I started to remember things from his book God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism (1978), particularly at his ideas of having awe in the face of the mystery. So, I have been skimming through and found these considerations so far.

“The beginning of awe is wonder, and the beginning of wisdom is awe.”

“Awe is a way of being in rapport with the mystery of reality.”

“Awe is a sense of transcendence…”

“Knowledge is fostered by curiosity; wisdom is fostered by awe.”

“They who sense the wonder share in the wonder.”

“Knowledge is not the same as awareness and expression is not the same as experience. By proceeding from awareness to knowledge we gain in clarity and loose in immediacy. What we gain in distinctiveness by going from experience to expression we lose in genuineness… Concepts, words must not become screens; they must be regarded as windows.”

Now is the time

Now is the time to know

That all that you do is sacred.

Now, why not consider

A lasting truce with yourself and God?

Now is the time to understand

That all your ideas of right and wrong

Were just a child’s training wheels

To be laid aside

When you can finally live

with veracity and love.

Now is the time for the world to know

That every thought and action is sacred.

That this is the time

For you to compute the impossibility

That there is anything

But Grace.

Now is the season to know

That everything you do

Is Sacred.

--Hafiz

Family Constellations: A Brief Overview

One of the most powerful and amazing forms of therapy I have seen in 25 years of practice is Family Constellations. Developed by German psychologist Bert Hellinger, this therapeutic experience opens up the possibility of deep healing, not only of the self but also of the client's family and even ancestors. I am currently training to become a Family Constellation facilitator through a year-long training in San Diego.

I first had the opportunity to be involved in Family Constellation therapy in 2002 here in San Antonio. I have never experienced any form of therapy or healing more profound or intrinsic than this work. It has changed life in so many ways. It has helped heal my family and my relationships. I have also received many gifts in being of service to others as a representative.

Family Constellations is a used by psychologists, psychiatrists psychotherapists and alternative practitioners throughout the World. It is very big in Europe. While more accepted by mainstream practitioners in Europe, here in the US its found more of a home in the Alternative Healing Community. The objective of Family Constellations is to “release profound tensions within and between people." (1)


A good overview of the process is described in Wikipedia:

"A group of participants (10-30), led by a trained facilitator, sit in a circle. One participant (client or seeker) is selected to work on a personal issue. The others either serve as "representatives" or actively contribute by observing with concentration."

"After a brief interview, the facilitator suggests who will be represented in the Constellation. These are usually a representative for the seeker, one or more family members, and sometimes abstract concepts such as "depression" or a country."

"The facilitator may ask each representative to describe how it feels to be placed in relation to the others. At this point, the facilitator, seeker, and group members may perceive something in the spacial relationships and feelings held by the representatives that is informative regarding an underlying dynamic that relates to the presenting personal issue."

"A healing resolution for the issue generally involves the repositioning the representatives and for the facilitator to suggest one or two sentences to be spoken aloud. If the representatives do not feel better in their new position or sentence, they can move again or try a different sentence. Sometimes the process ends before a full resolution is achieved. (2)

In the next part of this exploration I will look at the role of conscience in the family system and the premise that everyone belongs and has a rightful place.


1. "Family Constellation" in Wikipedia

2. IBID.

Bert Hellinger's Official Website