Reality

“[I]n the things that really matter, life, love, reality, God, no one can teach you a thing….  They can, at most, point in the direction of Reality, they cannot tell you what to see.  You have to walk out there all alone and discover for yourself.”  Anthony DeMello, The Way To Love

What jumped out at me here is DeMello’s last sentence – “You have to walk out there all alone and discover it for yourself.”  This is where the trepidation comes in, the vulnerability.  I can read about experiences from the safety of my home, have others tell me of them over a leisurely dinner, but that is not the Reality DeMello refers to.  He uses the analogy of going on a tour but never leaving the tour bus, and keeping the bus shades down while the tour guide tells the tourists what they would see if they could see, what they would experience if they could exit the bus.

It occurs to me how easy it is, particularly these days, to “experience” things vicariously.  The temptation if there to have someone tell me about the fragrance of the rose rather than me pausing, walking over to the bush, pulling the stem my way (avoiding the thorns as best I can) and inhaling the fragrance.