EPIPHANY by Brian Plummer

“Thomas said to him, ’My Lord and my God!’”    John 20:28 (NIV)

I remember it like it was yesterday, although it happened in 1995.  I was taking Dr. Hardy’s Theory of History course, and it was one of those horrible night classes—7:00 to 10:00—that everyone hates because all of us struggled to stay awake.  It wasn’t Dr. Hardy’s fault, however; I loved the sound of his voice:  he could read the phone book, and I would still be entranced.  One evening, as the professor was discussing some deep theoretical concept, I suddenly blanked out, something that had never happened before and hasn’t happened since; I simply blanked out and have no recollection of hearing Dr. Hardy or even being present in the dimly-lit classroom.  In what was probably only a few seconds, I had an overwhelming sense that—don’t lose me here—I could answer virtually any question thrown at me.  I felt that I had all the wisdom of the world dumped into my mind all at once, that I quite literally “knew it all.”  It could be nothing more than a true epiphany.  The sensation lasted only a few seconds, and then I went back to being barely able to walk and chew gum at the same time—that “wisdom” was gone.  It was an overpowering experience, however, and it left me exhausted, unable to know what to make of it.

Some years later, I had another epiphany, one that was far greater and far more lasting.  Standing in the kitchen one late-summer morning with the sun filtering through the blinds, it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks:  God is there.  Jesus is real.  I had known the facts—the information—my whole life, but until that moment, it wasn’t anything more life-changing than The mailman will be here at 3:00 today.  When that realization dawned on me and became real, I felt the blood drain from my head, and I felt weak, barely able to remain standing.  It was an epiphany, and I could do nothing but stand in awe of the greatest truth that has ever faced humanity.  I stood there slack-jawed, stunned, as the weight of that reality undid me and unraveled everything I thought I knew and I thought mattered.  I could do nothing from then onward but give myself to the One Who created me and allowed me to commune with Him.

B.P.

Think about it:  Have I ever had an awe-inspiring encounter with God?