Friday, December 02, 2011

Eureka...and the moment of sudden delightful comprehension

There is a memory that sticks with me. It's a memory of learning, a memory of a day when I was suddenly enlightened about something. Now, I'm sure we all have had moments where we suddenly "understood" something but that this particular memory should stay with me after all these years (I'm 51, gonna be 52 on Monday, and this thing happened about 40 years ago) ...well, I KNOW there is a reason why it has stayed so upfront in my memory.

This is the memory: I was in orchestra class in the basement with Mr. Klingensmith, our music teacher. I think it was elementary school. I had a violin in my hand and we were all playing some music. But the thing was...I didn't know how to read music or to play the violin. Yep, I was second violinist and surrounded by tons of people and had been in the orchestra for a while but I was woefully ignorant. This was how I was reading music and playing music. (And this was how I was "playing the music" on that day of my enlightenment) I had my violin in my hands and I was looking at the fingers of the kid next to me. The left middle finger on the D string, the left index finger on the A string or G or E string. The left ring finger on the.... well, you get the idea.

I would glance at the music notes and not really get how they connected to the notes being played on the violin. I hadn't begun taking piano at that time, so I was woefully ignorant on two counts: music reading and violin playing.

Anyway, the watching of the nearby violinist's fingers....was what I did everyday....and that was what I was doing on that day.

AND THEN!!

Suddenly. One of God's "suddenlies" it DAWNED on me that when the violinist beside me pressed her index and middle fingers on the A string, that that was where the C was on the music sheet. And when she pressed her index finger on the A string, that that was where the B was on the music sheet.  I was amazed. After all those weeks of faking it, I finally UNDERSTOOD.  I understood what was on the music sheet and I understood what the fingers were doing and I understood what Mr. Klingensmith was saying about the first bar and the B notes and the B flat meaning you moved your index finger just a little back on the A string. All that in one moment of time.

And I have always remembered it...this great epiphany.

This is the image and the concept I have in my mind when I pray for God to send out His light and His truth and His understanding to someone. This is the memory I have in the forefront of my mind when I ask God to make my younger son "understand." A sudden AHA moment when my younger son is watching TV and the words MUSIC on the screen and then suddenly totally comprehending "seeing" the words ...or when he writes the letters of his name and SUDDENLY understands that letters are written sounds and that they can be rearranged and played with to facilitate communication.

It's so easy for me to understand that this could happen with him because this sudden eureka moment has happened with me. So I believe and this is the image I focus on.

Of course there are other eureka epiphany moments. Moments when one suddenly realizes that someone loves you, that God loves you. And there are the Eureka moments of despair ...when one KNOWS one is dying. And there are the false eureka moments ...when one experiences an impression or epiphany which  is caused because one is self-deceived or caused by satanic delusion....for instance, an event which makes one believe in something that is not true. Moments like when David Gervais "realized" as a young child that God did "NOT" exist and was a great lie invented by humans. Moments when one suddenly understands that the world is based on greed and there is no love in the world. So yes, there are false eureka moments.

But this eureka of delightful comprehension is the one that I'm pondering...the one which I believe God has caused me to always remember...because He knew I would have to hold onto the vision of getting my son to talk.  

3 comments:

Grace Bridges said...

What a wonderful story, and a wonderful hope. Do you still play violin?

Carole McDonnell said...

Not anymore. I gave away my violin to someone. Maybe one day again. I love music. -C

lelia said...

Aaaah.

Blog Archive

Popular Posts