What an “Aha!” moment is and isn’t …

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The struggle for understanding is real.

Living in the “Information Age,” we are daily drowned in so much information, and have access to such a vast supply of data, you would think the level of our understanding would be impressive.

Instead, we’re increasingly becoming people who limit our reading intake to memes and social media posts.

The famous World War II general, Douglas MacArthur, explained in “Reminiscences” a strategy he used at West Point for dealing with information he didn’t understand:

    The first section was studying the time-space relationship later formulated by Einstein as his Theory of Relativity. The text was complex and, being unable to comprehend it, I committed the pages to memory. When I was called upon to recite, I solemnly reeled off almost word for word what the book said. Our instructor, Colonel Fieberger, looked at me somewhat quizzically and asked, “Do you understand this theory?”

    It was a bad moment for me, but I did not hesitate in replying, “No, sir.” You could have heard a pin drop. I braced myself and waited.

    And then the slow words of the professor: “Neither do I, Mr. MacArthur. Section dismissed.”

In spite of all that, all of us have had “Aha!” moments. Those are specific, if not “special,” moments when facts, information, data, or exposure to truth finally coalesces in our minds and we finally “get it.”

It’s wonderful!

“Aha! So now I understand!”

But the mistake so many of us make when it comes to experiencing an “Aha!” moment is failing to understand that a “Aha!” moment is an opportunity, not a completion.

Let me give you an example.

I’ve been a certified instructor for more than 25 years for the world’s number one educational program for equipping couples with communication skills. During the final training segment, we’ve taught couples how to collaborate on not just what they want for themselves, but also what they want for their spouse and for the “us,” themselves as a couple. Light bulbs go on in minds and hearts, and the couple think they finally “get it” because they’ve collaborated this far together. The couples think they’ve reached a great place of understanding together, almost as if their task is now done.

But it isn’t. They have only arrived at a place of understanding together.

Now they have to take another step and identify specifically what each person will do — including specific details like when and how — and commit to that action, then go do what they’ve committed to doing. Without this action step, the understanding they gained is of no use to them.

Just having an “Aha!” moment isn’t a completion in itself, you have to now do something with (or apply) your new understanding. Even when we have an “Aha!” moment with truth, it does us little good if it only remains a piece of information. What are you going to do with the truth now that you understand it?

James teaches us in some situations there’s a real and significant responsibility that comes with understanding: “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it,” James 4:17.

“Aha!” moments are fantastic, seek them! But then remember to go the next step and do the right thing with your new understanding.

Scotty