The Epiphany

By John Artz

I suppose that most people never bother themselves with questions about the meaning of life. I, on the other hand, can't seem to think of much else. One day as I was driving home, I filled the empty moments with musings about the possible meanings of life. As the car bottomed in a dip and began to pounce over the next rise, I turned the wheel to the left and leaned into the turn to overcome the centrifugal force. Then it came to me in a flash. There were four principles basic to all aspects of life. These four principles could be combined in various ways to explain everything - why we are here, what we should do, why we are the way we are - every nagging question I had ever pondered. It was an epiphany. It was one of those two or three seconds in your life when it all makes sense. When you are one with wisdom and understanding. When there is no more asking, only doing. I raced through examples in my mind to come up with something that these four principles did not explain, but I could find nothing.
"Well," I thought. "I'd better write these down before I forget them." I had had moments of insight before and knew how quickly they could evaporate. I steered with my left hand and rummaged through the glove box with the other, looking for something to write with. I looked through every cubby hole in the car but there was no pen to be found. I looked around and realized that I was just minutes from home and that I could preserve the insight by just repeating it to myself for a few minutes. Once in the door, I would head to my desk and jot down these ideas before they decayed.
I pulled into the garage, turned off the ignition, pulled up the emergency brake, left the car and headed for the door.
When I opened the door, the kids were fighting over a Nintendo game. The cat was tormenting the fish. And my wife started rattling off a list of everyone who had called and left messages. Then she asked me what I wanted for dinner. I chased the cat away from the fishbowl, tried to negotiate a peaceful settlement between the kids, and then turned to my wife and said "What are the choices ?"
By the time I got to my office only a few minutes had passed, but the inspiration had disappeared like a dream upon waking. It left a residue of that feeling of understanding, but nothing to hang that understanding on.
Many times I have reenacted that car trip in my head trying to recall the four principles but the muse of understanding never returned; Until yesterday. As I drove home yesterday the insight returned - not the four principles, but the understanding. The significance was never in the four principles, but in the story about them.

The End