In the Christian world, we are now in the season of Epiphany.\u00a0 It starts January 6th (the day of Epiphany) and ends Ash Wednesday.\u00a0 In Greek, the word that “epiphany” is derived from means “manifestation, shining forth, revelation\u00a0or\u00a0appearance”.\u00a0 It’s a dual-use term – both meaning a time that the invisible God appears and a sudden realization of the larger essence or meaning of something.\u00a0 It’s the “aha” moment and\/or a moment of the presence of God, perhaps at the same time.<\/p>\n
My story of vocational discernment and the winding path of the last 25 or so years includes a few instances where I am hard pressed to explain something without God’s involvement.\u00a0 In one case I had a vision<\/a> during a worship service at a youth conference.\u00a0 In another case I had a dream<\/a> with a strong message.\u00a0 Ultimately these events led me to make the decision that the ministry is my likely future.\u00a0 I start at Princeton Seminary in the summer or fall.<\/p>\n Last January there were several events that happened at a critical point in this journey.\u00a0 One day I went to a job fair and found myself trying to reconnect with a seminary.\u00a0 Another day a friend had coffee with me on a very rainy morning when I was feeling very off-kilter, and gave me advice that led to the heavy-duty discernment that followed.\u00a0 And on another January day (before the other two, I think) something else happened.\u00a0 Something else I haven’t written about on this blog yet.<\/p>\n I’d been praying to God for direction.\u00a0 I’d been lamenting God’s absence from my life, God’s refusal to answer my prayers.\u00a0 I felt that God had decided to ignore me.\u00a0 To make my job layoff happen and then leave me hanging.\u00a0 To call me to the church, back to the church, and to heavy church volunteering, but still to leave me wondering about whether the church should be my future.\u00a0 I felt alone and that God was not present.<\/p>\n In the mornings at our house, our routine has been set for years – caused by jobs.\u00a0 (And we still do this, even though I really don’t need to get up at a specific time.)\u00a0 My wife gets up at 6am and gets into the shower, then comes back out and crawls back in bed until it’s time for me to get up at 6:30am.\u00a0 Then we get up and feed the cat and do the rest of the morning things.\u00a0 That time between 6 and 6:30 has become a time of drowsy wakefulness where I’m somewhere between dead to the world and fully awake and waiting for 6:30am (different levels of consciousness on different days).<\/p>\n On this particular day, Carolyn was in the shower.\u00a0 I was lying in bed face up.\u00a0 I suddenly had the feeling that I was standing next to the bed.\u00a0 And that God was next to me.\u00a0 I had a sense of an orange fog being next to me (orange being VERY clear) and knowing that it was God.\u00a0 And that two things were happening at the same time.<\/p>\n One impression I had was that God was standing next to me, facing in the same direction as me, and was otherwise quiet.\u00a0 Just standing there at my side (left side for some reason) facing the world with me.\u00a0 And throughout this experience I had a sense of eerie calm – that all was well with the world.\u00a0 I’d felt that sensation once before during the vision mentioned above.<\/p>\n At the same time I also had another impression.\u00a0 I was facing the world.\u00a0 God was standing beside me facing me, yelling at the top of God’s lungs, and gesturing wildly.\u00a0 And I wasn’t hearing or seeing it at all.<\/p>\n And then I was awake, still lying in bed, Carolyn still in the shower.\u00a0 And the sense of calm and all is well and God is with me remained.\u00a0 When Carolyn came out of the shower, I told her all about it.<\/p>\n It came at a time that I needed to know that God was with me.\u00a0 The imagery of God trying to tell me something and me not getting it at all was also clear.\u00a0 And it set me up for other events later that week and month that have set me on my road to a second career.<\/p>\n I usually experience God’s presence through others.\u00a0 A friend at lunch or coffee.\u00a0 A youth in youth group.\u00a0 A stranger being helped.\u00a0 Someone who tells you how much you’ve helped them and you can’t really figure out what you did.\u00a0 A thank you for your hard work.\u00a0 The whole congregation during a particularly moving worship service.<\/p>\n But once in a while (more often than I deserve), God shows up for me in a very personal way.<\/p>\n A private, quiet, Manifestation of God.\u00a0 An Epiphany, which prepared me for other epiphanies to come.<\/p>\n Thanks be to God.<\/p>\n This blog entry is part of a synchroblog<\/a>.\u00a0 Here are other blogs that are taking part:<\/p>\n For some, this is a very embarrassing situation and why not? Women will not be cheap viagra from usa<\/a> satisfied and it can put the body wastage back into your body that will for sure generate various issues. You can buy kamagra online which is one of the advantages of getting a Texas online adult driver ed are: Short and simple: The refresher course for adults is of 4-6 generic overnight viagra<\/a> hours. In order to get viagra no prescription<\/a> achieve better stamina while performing sex one has to follow certain health tips which will increase local pressure, result in poor blood flow, aggravate prostate edema, cause urination disorder, or even induce acute urinary retention. The protection, rejuvenation and tadalafil cipla 20mg<\/a> hydration must happen on the cellular level. <\/span>Mike Victorino \u2013 What To Do?<\/a><\/p>\n Beth Patterson \u2013 A Robust Universe Includes The Botched and Bungled<\/a><\/p>\n Jeff Goins \u2013 The Manifestation Of God<\/a><\/p>\n Jeremy Myers \u2013 Pagan Prophecies Of Christ<\/a><\/p>\n Minnow \u2013 When God Shows Up<\/a><\/p>\n Alan Knox \u2013 A Day I Saw Jesus<\/a><\/p>\n Ellen Haroutunian \u2013 Stories of Epiphany<\/a><\/p>\n Liz Dyer \u2013 God Breaking Through Moments<\/a><\/p>\n Kathy Escobar \u2013 orphans<\/a><\/p>\n Josh Morgan \u2013 The Manifestation Of God<\/a><\/p>\n Steve Hayes \u2013 Theophany: the manifestation of God<\/a><\/p>\n Sarah Bessey \u2013 In which Annie opens the door of her heart<\/a><\/p>\n Christine Sine \u2013 Eve of Epiphany \u2013 We Have Come, We Have Seen, Now We Must Follow<\/a><\/p>\n