It was dusk. A young man found himself alone in the heart of the desert. Far from the city, far from the noise. When night fell, he spread his blanket under the stars and lay down. Suddenly his eyes fell upon the vastness of the sky. All that light, all that distance, that silence filled with movement. A meteor shot across the horizon and he instinctively held his breath. A thought sparked in his mind: “Who silently manages all of this?” There was no answer, no response. But that night, something stirred deep in his chest. For the first time, he felt that faith could be like breathing; flowing without having to think about it. The next morning, when he returned, he still didn’t know what to call that moment. He only knew that something about his relationship with God hadn’t been right before that night.
When the “Self” Gets Lost in Grandeur
What happened to that man in the desert that night is known in psychology as the “experience of awe.” Confronting something so vast and immense that it renders all the small daily worries colorless. In those moments, focus shifts away from the “self” and the person sees themselves as part of a much larger whole[24]. This reduction in self-centeredness is where faith finds new life. No more calculations of me versus you; just the feeling of being in the presence of something that envelops you. Research shows that such an experience makes a person humble and receptive to truths beyond ordinary understanding. Perhaps that is why many people, on mountain peaks or by the seashore, begin to pray without even knowing how.
Hidden Order; The Trace of an Intelligent Designer
The human mind is wired to enjoy seeing regular patterns. Nature is full of these patterns: the golden ratio in petals, the symmetry of butterflies, the precise movement of planets. If you told that desert man that “all this order is random,” he might not believe it. This search for a “designer” or “order-giver” is not something limited to theology experts. Anyone who looks at a leaf under a microscope or observes the motion of galaxies will unconsciously seek a “why”[25]. Reflecting on these orders, without engaging in complex arguments, gives a person the feeling that says: “Behind this, an invisible hand is at work.” Faith begins with this simple feeling.
The Winter Tree, a Lesson in Perseverance and Patience
One of the images that desert man never forgot was a lone tree he had seen along the way. It had no leaves, no fruit, but it stood firm. He thought: “This tree knows that spring will come again.” Natural processes have taken millions of years to reach their current form. Compared to that, a human life is so short. This perspective gifts a person with patience[26]. Faith that the “timeline of existence” is different from our daily schedule. A leafless tree in winter is a symbol of hope; a hope rooted in the belief in the return of life. Those who see this in nature become less despairing about life’s delays, and their faith in the “promised day” grows stronger[27].
Beauty Is Not Pointless; The Role of Colors in Soothing the Soul
Why is watching a green meadow or a red sunset so calming? From a scientific perspective, natural colors directly affect the limbic system (the emotional center) of the brain and reduce tension[28]. But beyond science, this beauty is a “sign.” As if nature is telling us: “Stop and look. There is something here to understand.” Beauty invites a person to “complete presence.” When you watch a mountain, you unconsciously use all five of your senses: you see, you hear, you smell, you touch, and you even taste the air. This sensory unity is the “perceptual unity” that in mysticism is referred to as a gateway to the oneness of existence[29]. In such an atmosphere, faith becomes not a mental belief but a lived experience. That desert man later said: “That night, I no longer wanted to bring reasons for God. I just stood and breathed. It was enough.”
Sources
[24] Karimi, M. (2022). The Experience of Awe and Reduced Self-Centeredness. Quarterly of Positive Psychology, Volume 5, Issue 2, p. 45.
[25] Naderi, M. (2020). Order in Nature and Teleological Argument. Journal of Philosophy of Science, Volume 11, Issue 1, p. 78.
[26] Razavi, S. (2019). Becoming in Nature and Logotherapy. Journal of Existential Psychology, Volume 4, Issue 2, p. 112.
[27] Javadi Amoli, A. (2006). Human and Faith in the Quran. Qom: Esra Publishing, p. 234.
[28] Rezaei, A. (2021). The Effect of Natural Colors on the Limbic System. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Volume 9, Issue 3, p. 56.
[29] Kabat-Zinn, J. (2021). Mindfulness and Sensory Perception. Translated by Narges Hosseini. Tehran: Danesh Publishing, p. 145.
