Epiphany
Epiphany is a moment of sudden realisation or revelation, an invitation into new understandings that enhance and enliven our consciousness that ultimately recalibrate our way of being.
The Western Christian religious world celebrates an annual feast on the first week of January to commemorate the visit of the Magi to the Christ child, a divine summons that introduces a new kind of humanity to the world. This hypostatic (fully human/fully divine) union of sorts that postulates a new archetype helps us rediscover our heavenly mandate and earthly purpose.
It would seem that I am designed for regular visitations of inspiration and imaginative upgrade that are germane for my maturation and evolution.
Recently while reading Brene Brown’s book ‘Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for true Belonging and Courage to Stand Alone' I had a moment of epiphany when I bumped into her definition of true belonging.
“True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness. True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.”
She suggests that a key element to experiencing a sense of true belonging is the augmentation of TRUST in our lives. A trust in yourself and your fellow humans, a faith that asks us to find God in the face of everyone we meet while experiencing a vicarious refraction of trust in our own lives.
Learning the art of trust is a lifelong quest that is full of interesting contradictions and challenging moments. If we are honest we all struggle with the concept of trust because the world seems so unsafe and unpredictable and uncertainty stands at every corner trying to turn us towards a trajectory of endemic cynicism. That being said trust somehow guides and guardians our soul like a mystical entity along the delicate pathway of existential vulnerability, thoroughly committed to our welfare and well-being.
Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Psalm 37:4
The ancient writers would often say ‘Trust in the Lord’ as a way of saying that there is an innate connection between trust and the divine that must be explored and potentially embraced.
The root word for Lord in Hebrew is ‘havah’ which means ‘come to pass’ or ‘become’. The sacred nature of trust is the art of learning to become more comfortable with what is coming to pass, a confident repose that is secure in the fact that the whole universe is conspiring on our behalf, especially for our best interests.
When we listen to the ancient texts that have guided our forebears for centuries we are implicated in their journey and invited to find new moments of epiphany in their timeless wisdom. New meaning is found in new interpretation and implication.
Here is my re-write of Psalm 37:4 that I have adopted as my mantra to hopefully enhance trust and reinvigorate my sense of belonging.
"Have courage to face what is coming to pass in your life, regardless of how it looks or feels, stay grounded [honest] in your reality, it is the only safe place to be"
2018 is another year that we get to experience the paradoxical nature of life as it unfolds before us… trust yourself and in turn you will eventually begin to trust others.