Epiphany: a moment in which you suddenly see or understand something in a new or very clear way.
(This video has been on our website before.)
Today is Epiphany…
We have all experienced different epiphanies during our lives. Nearly three decades ago I had a major epiphany. One Dark Night, literally, I saw clearly that I was on the wrong road, again literally as well as figuratively. It was a road to ruin that would lead to disaster and destruction. I take no credit for that moment of clarity. God was there and I cried out to Him, “help me.” The way I was heading only meant more physical, mental and spiritual pain with a ultimate bad ending.
If I said that I saw the Light immediately like Paul did on the road to Damascus, I would be lying. It was more like what happened to the Magi after they had seen the Christ and worshipped Him. The Wisemen knew in their hearts they needed to “go home by another way.” These pagan magicians from the orient were given the Gift of new sight. So I had to trust that God would show me the new way.
Then the Lord began to put people in my life that I now realize were there to guide me. Ultimately we are supposed to help each other. I was willing to be lead in what has turned out to be a spiritual journey. We are all in this Time/Space reality only temporarily as part of our spiritual life. I have come to believe this present state is not the total reality. “Stop warping this present reality with chemicals,” they told me. I did. That was just the beginning. Slowly the physical, mental and spiritual fog began to lift. I could see a new road ahead. “Just keep moving forward,” they said. “Each day ask God for help like you did to begin with,” they told me. So when I came to forks in the road, mountains to climb or rivers to cross, I asked the Lord for help. He has always answered. Some answers I liked. Some turned out to be wonderful surprises. While other answers required struggle and effort on my part. For those He provided His strength.
I continue on this New Way believing also that we can dance and play as we go down the road. I suppose there is a little bit of “Hobbit’ in me and all of us. Like Hobbits I enjoy friends, fellowship, games and playing. Yet we all have big hairy feet and can be clumsy. My family will attest to this!
Lord help me to see your world as You do…Life is after all about how we see and perceive our world. Then we will act accordingly, hopefully.
Later: it is time to revisit “Journey of the Magi” by TS Eliot. I listened at: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/journey-magi
DKS