Shortly after the Protestant reformation in Christianity, the word “awesome” began to appear in the English language. It had an etymological predecessor, in Old English, “egeful,” that had a similar meaning. It is really the merging of two words with common meaning: awe + some. To be awesome is to inspire awe. An awesome event or sight draws attention to God’s power and might. The word has deep religious meaning and was used in a religious context for generations. Like many other words, however, its meaning has shifted. In contemporary American slang, the word awesome means excellent or exciting, or remarkable: “That was awesome, dude!” The rise of the use of the more mundane use of the word to describe things that are, frankly, less than awesome, has resulted in some of us using the term “awe-inspiring” more when we are referring to the things that generate a genuine religious feeling.

The glory of the night sky over the prairies is awe-inspiring.

The presence of a caring community providing care for grieving persons is awe-inspiring.

The power of wind and water to carve deep canyons and form incredible vistas is awe-inspiring.

There are many more things that create genuine awe in the beholder.

It may be that we need such inspiration. It may be that the ability to experience awe is an essential part of being human.

Daniel Drupsteen and Jimi Hunt are two men who live in New Zealand who are creative thinkers. They are also two men who have suffered from depression. Depression can be a debilitating disease. Left untreated it can lead to death – sometimes death by suicide. They decided that they wanted to lead lives that made positive movement away from depression. Part of that process was figuring out how to achieve things that mattered to them – do some things that were deeply meaningful – change the ways they lived their lives.

Daniel wrote what he called his “Manifesto for Awesomeness.” It listed some really big goals for his life. It also had a “black list” of fears that he wanted to conquer. There was also a list of things that were fun to him. And finally there was a list he called the “ridiculist” that contained all sorts of silly, and fun and unlikely events such as delivering a baby on a plane, getting a guest spot on The Simpsons, and have a shotgun wedding in Vegas. It also contained a couple of things that are truly awesome from my point of view. Being from “down under” he wanted to see the aurora borealis. I can testify that that one is a truly awesome experience.

Together Daniel and Jimi have formed a nonprofit organization that they call “Live More Awesome.” Live More Awesome is a place to inspire others to better themselves – or more accurately a way for people to motivate themselves to live better than they currently are. Daniel and Jimi believe that if one continually strives for better things – to live more awesome – there is no way that depression can take over their lives again. And they sensed that the way to get into the mode of that continual striving is to surround themselves with a community of other people who help one another. They started in their hometown of Auckland, New Zealand and, through the use of the Internet and social media have spread their community around the world. They are off an running with their mission and so far it seems to be working for them and for hundreds of others who have gotten involved.

This week they are getting a lot of press in New Zealand for having constructed what they are calling the world’s longest waterslide. It may well also be the world’s muddiest waterslide. On a hilly cow pasture northwest of Auckland, they dug three trenches down the hill, one 60m long, the second 90m long and the most awesome a full 650m long. The big slide has a place where they tunneled under a fence. The trenches are lined with plastic and have water running down them.

Almost a thousand people slid down the three slides in a festival designed to combat depression, raise awareness of the Live More Awesome project and raise funds for the charitable purposes of LMA. From what I can gather from the news reports, the event was a great success. The alcohol-free event sported a lot of laughter and just plain fun. It was, in a word, “Awesome.”

It is, I think, awe-inspiring as well. Depression is a serious illness and its effects can be devastating to individuals and families whose lives are affected by it. Two men who know the realities of the disease who have banded together to work to combat depression are discovering that by helping others they are also helping themselves. By giving their lives a purpose they are keeping depression at bay. I have no illusions that depression is easy to conquer. There are no guarantees that it will never again rear its ugly head in the lives of Daniel and Jimi, but for one awesome late summer weekend they were able to keep from being overwhelmed by depression, accomplish something really big and provide a way for others to participate in the fight against depression. What they have done inspires awe in me. People working together to help other people is direct evidence of the power of God at work in the world. I’m pretty sure that Daniel and Jimi wouldn’t use religious language to describe their work. We, who are Christian, however, see God at work in the midst of places that are not labeled “religious.” We understand God’s presence in all of life, not just in the places where religious language is popular.



The Live More Awesome web site has a page of quotes that provide inspiration:

“The Secret: Keep Going.”

“Dreams don’t work unless you do. Get up. Get active. Get it done. Achieve your goals.”

“There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of.”

It is awesome! And I intend to pass on some of their quotes to others.

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

“If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it.”

Copyright © 2013 by Ted Huffman. I wrote this. If you want to copy it, please ask for permission. There is a contact me button at the bottom of this page. If you want to share my blog a friend, please direct your friend to my web site.