Midweek Faith Lift
February 26, 2025
The A Ha Moment of Realization
Rev. Deb Hill-Davis
We begin with a story by Sandra Keiser Edwards shared by Jim Trenberth when he lead one of our MWF Prayer calls recently.
The Muse paid a visit on Christmas Eve. “I was hoping you’d come,” I said with a sigh of relief. I have too many things in my heart and on my mind – all equally important”
“Ah!” she responded. “The need to focus is a universal challenge these days! What is the one thing among the many that resonates most deeply?
Don’t Think. Feel. This is a message not an epistle”
A message… In a moment of clarity, I vividly remembered our first cruise experiencing Alaska’s Inside Passage. Clay and I were excited about every aspect of this new adventure and were like scouts as we explored the ins and outs of the magnificent ship. The first order of business, however, was to report to our designated station for the muster drill. I kept to myself that, at 40 plus years, I had thought it was a “mustard” drill until seeing it in print.
We dutifully showed up at the appointed time and were greeted by a charming crew member whose primary function we’d later learn was as the ship’s pianist. Eager to put us at ease before providing instruction in emergency evacuation, he enthusiastically pitched to the crowd “ Where is everyone from?” Nebraska! New Hampshire! Italy! Argentina! Norway! Arkansas!
The list continued until a child spoke up and said “Hey, we’re all from Earth” In his voice was a sense of knowing tinged with frustration as he, unlike the adults, saw the common tie that binds us. There was a moment of silence, as we collectively perceived this profound declaration. And then a giggle or two ignited hearty laughter in this merry band of potential evacuees. If we were leaving the ship, we’d all be leaving as Earthlings.
Marshall McLuhan observed “There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all Crew.”
Affirmative Prayer for today: As we open to our true identity as Divine/Spiritual Beings, we open our hearts to each and every A Ha moment that is available to us. As earthlings on this planet, we are intimately linked, one to another, a spiritual truth made real by the spiritual Power of Understanding. Amen.
The message of the muse, “Don’t think, feel” is the essence of the process of realization that is at the heart of the Power of Understanding. When something becomes “real” for us, we typically have an emotional investment in it, whatever “it” might be. We awake to the “realness” of how deeply we feel about “it,” how much we really care. Pause to consider how many times and how many ways you say the word “real,” or some variation of it. That will tell you something about your journey of human/spiritual realization. Every time you have a human awareness, even a small one, you are waking up to the spiritual process of becoming more real, even as you are becoming more human!
Last week our exploration was about the process of comprehension as part of the Power of Understanding. Much of comprehension is a cognitive process, an “aha” that is a thinking process, not necessarily a feeling process. It is a “first the pants, then the shoes” understanding that makes the basic process of life flow more easily. It also includes an emotional component that we touched on briefly especially the relief that comes from being understood by another or truly understanding ourselves! When I finally “got it” that I could not put 40 lbs. of “stuff” in a 25 lb. sack and expect it to not rip, life got much less stressful and complicated. It was a cognitive process that brought the “aha” of relief!
Realization is what happens when I have the flash of understanding that is the emotional need that keeps me trying to put 40 lbs. of stuff into a 25 lb. sack when my cognitive understanding tells me it still won’t work!? What is it in our human nature that keeps us checking to “just make sure” when we know it doesn’t work? We know the person is really gone, the relationship just won’t work, this job is really wrong for me, or our pet is really gone and on and on. This process of “making it real” takes us directly to the heart, but we often detour through our heads, first. We “over think” things, sure that we will find our way if we ignore what we feel. At least, I do! We struggle to accept the reality of something because our head and our heart are not together. And the process of realization, of coming to grips with what is real can take some time and can be painful.
In her book, Divine Audacity, Rev. Linda Martella-Whitsett explains it this way:
Realization is either a flash of understanding or a gradual dawning of awareness. Realization comes as a result of growing comprehension; where comprehension can be effortful, realization is effortless: “It came to me!” “Suddenly I knew what it all meant!” “It was revealed to me!”
Or in my experience, “this keeps happening to me; maybe I DO have something to do with it!” I have had both kinds of experiences with realization of the truth of something, the flash of an “aha” moment and the dawning of truth, spiritual truth. In both instances, my head and my heart came together. What I was thinking and what I was feeling were in harmony and clearly expressed.
The long, slow dawning realization happened in the process of separating and then divorcing my first husband. When he first came out of the closet, it was a shock and then an unfolding tragedy as I realized our marriage could not continue. I cried and cried at the death of my dream of having the family that I had never had as a kid. The pain of this break up propelled me into emotional recovery, 12-step, therapy, Unity and healing which resulted in a huge “A HA!” that I needed to be out of this marriage for the sake of my own emotional well-being and empowerment. I really “got it” that I was actively choosing what was for my highest and best good and for his good too. That realization was an incredibly clear demonstration of the spiritual power of Understanding. It took awhile….but it happened when I stopped telling God what the answer to my prayer should be!
The more immediate, “flash” of realization that is Understanding, happened in 2019 when we were on vacation in Florida for our winter getaway. My dad was in the hospital, but that was a routine thing for him, so no big deal, right? My sister tried to tell me that it was really different this time; it could be the end for him. My head didn’t want to accept that….my heart was not there to realize the emergency of it and my need to respond to the reality of this news.
It was not until I called and talked to him on the phone and he didn’t want to talk that the “A Ha happened. In that instant, I got it, and my heart knew this was the end for him. That made it so real for me, because my dad ALWAYS wanted to talk on the phone; he would talk your ear off whenever he had the chance. My next steps were very clear and again, by the experience of realization and the Power of Understanding, I got to his bedside while he was still clear enough to know I was there.
What is true, dear friends, is when this aspect of the power of Understanding, the power of realization happens in us, it becomes so clear and much easier for us to take the next right step and then the next. When our head and our heart are together, we are connected with our Christ energy, our highest and best self. Our human/divine selves are in synch and we are empowered with the light of realization, the light of Understanding.
There is a passage in the Christian Scripture in Matthew that describes the energy of this process:
Matthew 18:19-20
19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (NRSV-UE)
Last week, our scripture was about Ask, Seek, Knock and we were assured that when we ask with an open heart, we will know, we will comprehend, and we will receive what we need. This week, we are told that as earthlings, when we agree, when our head and heart are together, then what we seek will be done for us. Healing will happen and clarity of vision and true spiritual Understanding will prevail. It is only when our head and hearts are involved that the energy of the Christ is fully present. That is the spiritual Truth that is the energy of the Power of Understanding.
Again, we also remember that all that is done for us, all that unfolds does so in the energy of love, of gravity, so that no one is left out. We let go of our attachments to how the answer should look, what it should be, when it needs to show up. Remember from our opening story about the need to focus as we learn to hold what is in our head and in our heart. The “aha” will only come when we are able to be truly present and aware of what is there. Remember the words of - Thich Nhat Hanh: "Enlightenment, peace, and joy will not be granted by someone else. The well is within us, and if we dig deeply in the present moment, the water will spring forth."
Blessings on the Path, Rev. Deb