I had one today, and it's a whopper. Been writing for the past hour and a half but still feel like I just sat down. More to come, but in the meantime, have you had any of these you'd like to share?
WLG
epiphany -sudden revelation of truth inspired by seemingly trivial incident
by wanderlustguy 11 Replies latest jw friends
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BrendaCloutier
Yes! Epiphanies are incredible.One of mine was, when I was working on my AA 4th step, I discovered that although I had been badly abused by 2 husbands, I had been well trained by them as an abuser. It's everything I can do now to not throw something when I feel angry and powerless and words fail.
Keep writing. You will continue to be amazed at what comes out!
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jgnat
I've been working one through for the last month or so, the culmination of a whole bunch of rethinking of my basic assumptions. Part of it has to do with when we replace a book for direct observation, we always lose the immediacy of the lesson. Books can get us started, but they are a poor substitute for living.
For example, I've always been interested in dog training. I've read many books on the principles. I was a total failure at it when I tried for myself. My daughter, working with a willing cat, showed the determination and persistence to pull it off. Our cat could "sit", "lie down", "sit pretty", "shake a paw", and "go in" to his kennel on command. We scoffed at regular owners whose pets would disappear for days at the word "vet".
Watching my daughter, I realized that all the instruction in the world (which pointed her in the right direction) could not replace direct observation. The trainer has to be completely focused to the task at hand, no surplus sounds or movements that could confuse the animal. The trainer also has to be a superb observer of the mood and willingness of the animal. What does it care about most? Our rescue cat never wanted to be hungry again. He'd do anything for food. If he'd lived longer, we could have taught him to build the Brooklyn Bridge.
Applying this to other areas of my life, I realize I have discarded bible interpretations that don't work. Covering my head with a tea-towel does not improve my marriage. Direct observation wins over book knowledge. If my observations are correct, that means my interpretation was off. The bible was a useful pointer at the beginning, but as I get better at living, let it go and don't worry about it.
My next revelation has to do with all the earth being God's and how Christians don't hold the corner on wisdom. That is what I see, so it must be true.
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Billygoat
WLG,
I had an epiphany last year and immediately started typing about it on the board. It was incredibly freeing and helped me heal in so many ways.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/9/82274/1.ashx
Here's hoping to yours being that life changing!
ANdi
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damselfly
Yes I have. The biggest was admitting to myself that I was allowing my past to control my future. Allowing myself to remain a victim because it was easier to say I was held down then reaching out to change my circumstances.
Once I had that epiphany, there was a bad, bad, bad week as the fog cleared.
Then I started doing everything I possibly could change things for the better.
Dams
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tetrapod.sapien
i looked out of my window one day and saw a little feather covered dinosaur chirping on a branch. the implications of the realization came flooding down on me like a huge wave. i've never really been the same since.
TS
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LouBelle
That there is one area in my life I"m actually scared of succeeding but I'm taken the step to succeed anyway. Acknowledging that fear was a big thing.
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joannadandy
Yeah - it was inspired by my cat - LOL, and how easily I am willing to give up on things. (Oh god - this is the first sign of spinsterhood isn't it?! First life lessons from your cat, then you get 8 more and wear cardigans over house dresses with support socks and birkenstocks!)
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Terry
After leaving Jehovahdom I still carried the theology around with me. I was well-trained (or, more precisely: indoctrinated) and knew how all the parts fit. It was my World-View.This portable theology detached nicely from the Kingdom Hall and I could take it wherever I went. If a conversation arose that dealt with world issues, supernatural happenings, politics, health or ethics I'd just whoop it out and beat somebody over the head with it. Why? Well, isn't that what you do with JW theology? Sure.
So, this went on for a few years. (More than a few, actually). Then, I started dating a really well-educated woman who was a therapist in a hospital for abused children. I really respected her work and loved her sense of humor. We'd have long conversations. She'd tell me how abusers of children often had deep fantasy lives that helped them make some kind of sense out of the abuse they were acting upon. If you could penetrate their fantasy and help them see the harm it was the only possible step that helped in recovery. That was her job, after all, getting people to confront hard objective reality.
I remember my epiphany moment quite well. Here is what happened.
We were sitting in a restaurant at the end of a wonderful meal and, somehow, the conversation turned around to the subject of demons. You know, invisible renegade angels!
I sat there and explained it all to her in great detail...
"So, the angels came down to earth and materialized male bodies so they could have sex with the daughters of men and their offspring were GIANTS! The legendary heroes of old......"And suddenly the EPIPHANY HAPPENED!
I looked at this ladies' face. The expression on her face stopped me cold! She was looking at me as though I were a completely delusional lunatic!! She was stifling her repugnance at this nonsense!]
I sputtered to a stop.
It suddenly hit me. WHAT I WAS SAYING WAS THE WORST KIND OF COMPLETE BULLSHIT!!
The two of us were never the same after that. We broke up (actually, she broke up with me) shortly afterward.
The epiphany turned my world around! I realized I believed nonsense. And, worse than nonsense: it was the most extraordinarily ridiculous world view I was carrying around with me!
I promised myself right then and there to re-educate myself.
The long road began that night with Kathleen's expression of horror at my belief system!
It was like being a small child talking about elves and fairies one minute and seeing yourself as a grown man with an infantile value system the next!!
Epiphanies are very important to sanity and growth!!
T.
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LouBelle
joanna - please I have a cat as well - God i'm only 29 & I don't want to be a spinster...