Epiphany

An epiphany is a sudden grasp of the essential nature of something. It is also a manifestation of a divine being. Our knowledge of God, our sense of his presence often comes when we stop.
Today I was speaking with a colleague and she was talking about when she lived in Taiwan. While living there, she had a younger man helping her with the laundry, upkeep, etc. One day when he was outside, he yelled for the daughter to come out and look at something. There in the stone path was a snake. Not just any snake but one that if you were bitten, you would probably be dead in the next 5 minutes. They walked that stone path to the laundry line numerous times. The mother could have packed up and left for fear of her childern's lives (where there is one snake there will be another). She decided, at that moment, that they were not in the presence of danger but in the presence of God. Epiphany. Isn't that a great word?