Take the Feeling of Being Awestruck

Have you ever experienced the feeling of being awestruck and deeply moved? Years ago, when I was about 7 or 8 years old, in Catholic school, children were given a prayer book and a rosary for their first holy communion. In the pages of that prayer book were the most heavenly, light-filled images my young mind had ever seen. l was awestruck, captivated, and mesmerized by the images. I put the items under my desk, hoping to savor them when I got home. l could hardly wait. It was the last day of school, which only heightened the prospect. When my mom picked me up, we got about one-fourth of the way home when I realized that the book was still at the bottom of my desk at school. Something like dread came over me. I begged my mother to turn the car around and go back. My pleas fell on deaf ears. As my young mind tried to come to terms with the emotional devastation of it all, I again cried out for her to just go back and get my prayer book. Again, it was as if talking to a stone. Hopelessness began to set in as well as disbelief at being ignored. My heart was breaking as the idea of turning back became a distant echo. Something that I had valued became seemingly unimportant in my mother's eyes. What could have been more important than that which fed the mind and soul of a child?