Story 3

Story 3: The Epiphany

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 into 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 video 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.

This story is a little over 500 words long. And the recording is about 3 1/2 minutes.

Send an email to me at drjohnartz@gmail.com if you have a comment on any of my stories. And please check out my website at DrJohnArtz.com to see other things I have written.