The simple fact of being alive right now should provoke your awe. But a sense of awe is hard to maintain in the face of life's physical and mental imperfections. Life is chaotic, from the level of interacting molecules to the level of interacting individuals and even whole societies. Sometimes it works well, most of time it does not. There is so much that causes harm and suffering and fear. And so we seek something comforting, something better, something that "transcends" this mortal coil. Which brings us to Christmas.