What does wonder and awe in God's presence mean?

There are surprisingly few empirically-based studies on the nature of wonder. Miles (2006) argues that wonder is a hypothetical construct expressed as an emotion through facial and bodily movements and sometimes through utterances and questions or statements. Wonder may consist of the following characteristics: surprise, unexpectedness, novelty, wholeness of object, suddenness, prior knowledge and beauty.

To observe wonder, one may need to reconceptualise wonder as an event rather than solely as something felt and expressed as an individual. A 'wonder-eliciting event' is the hypothetical dynamic relationship between an individual and the stimulus that results in a behavioral and affective response to the stimulus that the individual feels as wonder and the observer interprets as an overt expression of wonder.

However, wonder may not be one clearly definable emotion since it may be the case that awe is classified as an extreme expression of wonder that can often occur in the presence of objects or phenomena that create an awareness of grandeur. One is aware of how small one is in relation to the universe, for example.

It seems increasingly clear that wonder and awe are important emotions that are experienced by us all and but rather poorly understood.

Miles, S. (2006) Reweaving the Rainbow: The development and use of an instrument to determine the extent of young children's sense of wonder at the Natural History Museum, London. Unpublished MA dissertation: University of London.