Fall from grace

"A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us by its large scope. "—Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Character” (1866) 

Dammit...I wish I could be such a mind. Perhaps I am! My three year old thinks I am the authority on everything. I await the day that she realises that she needs to reassess this position.

The first time I reaslised my dad didn't know everything was when he gave me a Bible study on a sabbath afternoon just after a long lunch. He asked me how we can be sure if the Bible is indeed from god. I fumbled for an answer. He grinned and opened his Bible to 2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness". He looked at me like he'd just solved rubik's cube. I smiled and returned a thoughtful nod. It didn't makes sense, but dad was a preacher and he knew alot, didn't he? It left me unsettled. It made zero sense that the bible was a witness to itself and we had to just accept it. It made zero sense that there was no other equally reputable source that could vouch for the bible's validity. It was at this juncture that I knew my dad was not able nor was he  willing to explore alternatives to his question. And I needed a more satisfactory answer than he had provided! 

It's the equivelant of watching superman for the first time lose his strength when in close proximity to kryptonite and getting his ass handed to him. What a pathetic sight! I decided then that the Hulk was a far better choice of hero to align myself with. Even to this day we don't know what Hulk's weakness is - but I digress. It was the same with dad. I found myself weighing everything he said more carefully.

Dad doesn't realise how this event shaped me and that in his moment of grandeur he toppled from the high place he once occupied. And one day I too shall fall from grace perhaps.

I think Emerson's statement is the flip side of this particular experience. My counter-quote(i made that up all by myself) would read: "A chief event of life is the day in which we face our hero's limitations and are forced to accept our own."