An “aha!” moment
Many years ago, a young man invited a very pretty girl to go on a picnic after church. The young man had rented a row boat, prepared a picnic lunch and took her to a small island in the lake. However, he had forgotten a number of things. Three times his attractive friend said: “It might be nice if we had some salt, or ketchup or napkins.” And each time the young man got into the boat and rowed back to shore to get the missing item.
By the end of the day, he had perspired so much that his good suit was soaked. But, he had realized something that afternoon, he had realized there had to be a better way. The young man’s name, by the way, was Clarence Evinrude. Later that very evening he designed the world’s first outboard motor. An industry was born because a young man had fallen head over heels for a young woman who as it turned out would as his wife continue to make requests of him.
We call such life changing realizations “Aha” moments or an epiphany. Liturgically, this part of the church year is called epiphany. It is a time to reflect on the realization that Jesus is manifested as the Son of God and that He came “to seek and to save the lost” (Lk. 19:1).
I always write out my New Year’s resolutions and place them in my desk drawer. That is the only way that I can keep them for the entire year. I would like to keep them, and it’s not that I don’t have the natural gifts to do better. But, somewhere in my makeup some vital element is missing.
A plaintive little poem published in Golf Digest points out our own inadequacy to deal with life’s critical issues:
“I bought a set of brand-new clubs
And rushed out to the tee:
The brand-new clubs are really great-
But I’m the same old me.”
It is amazing that so many people think: “If I just work harder, or if I just get a positive attitude, or if I just redouble my efforts I’ll be able to solve my inadequacies and problems. But by this type of thinking, we often dig a hole from which we cannot escape.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. God is a God who rescues people. The Psalmist reminds us: “I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a solid ground and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God” (Ps. 40:1-3).
What good news this is! On our own we have a tendency to foul everything up, but God loves us, listens to us and if need be, lifts us out of the slimy pit that we have dug and sets our feet on solid ground again. Let this good news of Epiphany be an “Aha” moment and then pray: “Lord, you are God. I need a power greater than my own. I need You. I can’t make it on my own. Help me. Amen”