epiphany. . .

By their very nature epiphanies tend to occur few and far between but when they do, the paradigm shift in the microcosm that up until now was your worldview is usually dramatic, a severe tectonic shift and far-reaching.

"You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free." - jn 8:32

I guess for all practical purposes my whole philosophical and intellectual paradigm has been more Plato then Kant, the belief in a reality outside of our existence of which we can only see the shadows of and which we interpret through what we see. In other words, what goes on around us, the decisions we make, our triumphs and failures are all based on a higher, perfect ideal that we cannot hope to achieve or interpret rightly in this world because we are a deeply flawed and fallen race. My faith has been bolstered by (and pinioned to) the belief in a Truth that is infallible, outside the confines of our finite minds, a Truth that exists completely within God, a Truth unassailable and unaffected by our decisions, are beliefs, are perceptions. This is Truth that IS regardless of whether we accept it or not, a completely objective Truth that cannot be tainted by the travails and travesties that occur each day in our world.

This has been manifest in the way I approach the practical application of my faith. It didn't matter how I felt, what mattered was, what is the Truth, that objective ideal that is affected by nothing except for itself, in the issue at hand. I've always felt that it was important to put aside the feelings of the situation and to look objectively at the facts of what was taking place to give a clear, fair and unprejudiced assesment.

So whenever I've thought of the verse, "You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free," I have held in my head a picture an esoteric, irrefutable final knowledge; a knowledge of which had the ability to shatter whatever chains were bound around me. It seemed to me that Jesus was saying when you get to know this Truth that I bring to you, this message, this gospel, that knowledge, will set you free and you will get to experience life the way it was meant to be.

I've discovered now that this is only partially right.

My epiphany was precipitated by readings from "Colossians Remixed: subverting the empire," a book sometimes a little heady but guaranteed to cause you to think and think hard (*now for some of you what I'm about to write down may be highly anti-climatic, something that you've already known for years, but I can't help that. You'll just have to bear with me. For others, well, I'll let you decide for yourselves) and it suddenly became clear what, or I should say whom, the Truth was that Jesus was talking about.

He was talking about Himself.

That's it. Not a message, not a high ideal, not the knowledge of knowing Truth. Why is this so monumental to me? Well all of a sudden my many conversations about the relational aspect of Christianity with several friends are now viewed through a completely different soul-piercing lense. If Christ is saying, "You shall know ME, and I shall set you free," then he's not saying when you acuquire the knowledge of the Truth then that knowledge will set you free. He's saying, "When you experience Me and the relation of being in communion with Me, then you will be set free." The foundation of my faith is relational, everything else, all my knowledge, the intellectual discourse I engage in, my activities, my desire for social and economic justice, my hobbies, everything, must stem from this one central truth. It's not the knowledge of Truth, the understanding of the gospel message that sets me free. It's Jesus.

There's so much more to this and the implications for how I approach my friendships, manifest my faith and so many other things are bound to be impacted mightily by this. I really do need more time to process this. I'll probably add more thoughts after I've mulled a little more over this. There's so much moreI've had to reevaluate: what does "objectivity" really mean; what defines what between faith and logical thought; what comes to mind when I utter the phrase, "defender of the faith"'; et cetera, et cetera.

In the meantime, there's a whole lot of relational living to be lived...