I wrote an essay about Epiphany for a contest....

[MrCleveland]

This is how it goes...

What does Epiphany mean? It’s a term that means to be revealed. Whether you’re St. John who wrote the book of Revelation or Billy Graham who was a well-known minister, they all had an Epiphany. But even a regular Joe like you or me will have an Epiphany moment in their lives, we won’t talk about it much but everyone has that moment of enlightenment. The gifts that we have can show us that we all have a calling on this planet; we don’t need Rick Warren to tell us, we just have to listen to our hearts in why we have that calling and what we are here for.
This is my Epiphany story, when I went to school at Cuyahoga Community College; I went to classes where I would be an actor. I was okay as an actor, but I only had singing parts and no lines. I would later write a play called The Russian Comedy where I used a scene from a play by Anton Chekov that I didn’t get to do the exercise because I didn’t meet with my other students. I learned the hard way, but the play started like this. But when The Russian Comedy was a hit at the school that I would graduate from, I knew that I had the talent to be a writer than an actor.
By then, I would rather be a writer than an actor, William Shakespeare said “all the world is a stage”, and the stage needs more than actors. They need a director, an editor, a gaffer, a producer, a sound person, and even someone to feed the people. I feel that day when my screenplay was produced, that was my epiphany. I know that God gave me that gift of writing, like he gave my father the gift of music and my mother the gift of art.
Over the years, I extended my talents of writing and I now write live reads for a radio show that me and my brother put together called The Warren Brothers Sports Show. I was told that my live reads sound as good as many other live reads in the local radio stations. I even go to a writing class that I’ve been going to for almost two years, many ask where my inspiration came from. It mostly comes from comedies and classic movies.
I’ve used what I have seen and heard and written them as characters for a TV Show that I would like to write and produce one day. I don’t know if that will ever happen, but what I know is that one time, even after that moment I wrote my first play that I produced, I felt worthless. But then I would write articles just for fun. I don’t expect much, but what I know is that I heard my calling, it didn’t need to be shouted from the mountaintops, I just kept it to myself mostly and shared it to my colleagues.
I wish many who haven’t had that epiphany moment in their life that they will have theirs. Some that I know thought they had an epiphany moment, but it was just something that you can say was a good idea on paper. I know, I have pastors at my church that thought they had it together. But even Oral Roberts who had a dream about a giant 900-foot Jesus thought he was going to die if he didn’t get a lot of funds. Roberts never got that money and he didn’t die until 2009. Roberts probably prayed and confessed, but others in the history of the world didn’t. Their epiphanies were just like chasing the wind.
I’m also not the one who had this epiphany overnight, no one ever has that. Henry Ford knew that he wanted to make an automobile that’s affordable but he had many attempts that never worked. Abraham Lincoln had many unsuccessful attempts to be a leader, but in late 1860 he became the 16th President of the United States of America. Even as recent as Brandon Tartikoff, the former President of NBC knew he made some mistakes. But they all knew they had a calling, even if they didn’t tell us. Their epiphany stories are unique as we speak.
We all have a dream, we all say “when I grow-up, I want to be this or that”. But sometimes dreams become reality or most likely, dreams never happen. When that’s the case, we may have an epiphany. Sometimes, it’s revealed to us that we are better than this. I’m not saying to quit your job and do what you want to do. But sometimes when we are in a dead-end job, we should find the thing that keeps us motivated. For me, it’s writing about characters in a play or an article about the history of Cleveland Hockey.
Again, I’ve been through that moment where my epiphany has faded, but many say “you’re a great writer” or “your voice is good for radio”. Maybe it’s time for me to stop feeling sorry for myself and have that epiphany moment again. It’s happened to me, it’s happened to anyone living on this planet. Even when the Wise Men who came to see Jesus had that Epiphany, hence January 6th is Epiphany in the Biblical Calendar. They had a relevance of who the King would be. And He Is the King of the Universe and has given us the gifts of what we don’t even know about ourselves.

Any thoughts? Opinions? Should I change anything? I'd like to send this in real soon....

[Steve_uk]

No submit it unabridged.