The over use of the word “Awesome” makes me cringe. And I have never used it in my whole life until ….. well actually twice and the last time was only two weeks ago,

What exactly does the word “Awesome” actually mean?

Today the word ‘Awesome’ has been entirely diluted to mean “Amazing, wonderful, cool”. This meaning is given by the InternetSlang website. “Awesome” is now a slang word and comes from the USA. I guessed that, too.

Its original meaning is “something which inspires awe”, and awe would inspire fear – fear of God. And in the 16th century awesome should have inspired terror. It is very close to the word “awful”. Shortly afterwards it would also mean “wonder”.

All that changed in the 20th century when it meant impressive almost beyond human comprehension.

I was brought up on the word awesome only to be used when comparing something only God has produced,

In fact the word was, because of that meaning, hardly ever used and nearly got thrown out of the Abbreviated Oxford Dictionary.

Then on a number of American comedy shows the word was used and it became so fashionable its use is overused to something even trivially pleasing.

We are no longer in awe of God. My God is an awesome God means He is OK or Cool. We all have a cool God.

I did, however, hear a physicist use the word on television the other day when describing the power of the sun.

That comes close to the two occasions I used it. And it came out of my mouth without thinking. What I saw immediately spawned the word from my consciousness that had made it dormant for the above reasons.

The first time was after Hurricane Ivan when I happened to look up to the Heavens and saw the night sky as I had never seen it before or since. There was absolutely no artificial light and no moon. Just the stars and I saw the Milky Way in all its glory.

It was an awesome sight. And if it hadn’t been for Ivan The Terrible I would never had witnessed it. I stood on my balcony for a very long time and then got a chair. I spent the whole evening looking at the night sky in wonder. In awe.

No man could make such a thing. It was beyond comprehension and there was a sense of fear about the sight. It was truly awesome.

My recent vision was also the sky but it was in the evening just before 6pm. The sun was setting and there was a mixture of low clouds and sky and the sun was shining on these clouds. It produced the most incredible multi shades of red and orange I have ever witnessed and I doubt I will ever witness it again. Nobody could ever paint such a picture I was so fortunate to witness. It lasted just a few minutes and my passenger gasped.

It was truly AWESOME.

And that is what that word means. Only God could perform that miracle.