A Pilgrim's Journal

There seems to me that there are two realities. There is a reality that we see with our physical eyes, and experience with our physical bodies. If we go without food, we get hungry. If we don't wear a thick enough coat, we get cold. If we waste what we have, we end up going without.

There are things that other people do to us as well. Perhaps we get fired and lose our jobs. Or maybe the economy tanks for reasons beyond our control and we get laid off. Or maybe we're being threatened by the schoolyard bully.

These things do happen. I'm not claiming that they don't.

But I think there is another reality as well. One that is not seen. What we see with our natural eyes is often evil, tinged with a little bit of good. What we see with our spiritual eyes is a different reality. We see good separating itself from evil.

For people that cannot see the spiritual reality, the natural reality is all that there is. It is a reality of force, of coercion, of threats, of fear, of loss. A reality of "do unto others before they do unto you."

But for people that do see the spiritual reality, there is an obvious battle going on. All those natural realities are fighting to keep the "good" contained in its own evil mess. Meanwhile, the good is constantly working to separate itself from the evil.

So when the schoolyard bully punches you in the nose, the natural world says, "Punch him back, since that is the only way he'll learn." But the spiritual world shows that the bully is really a servant of evil; and that evil, by using all the tools that it has in its arsenal, is trying to capture you too, through the bully's actions, into its realm of force, coercion, threats, fear, and loss.

And those that refuse to submit to the natural world are seen as being unrealistic. Believing in some utopia. Head in the clouds. Etc.

But the argument of "being realistic" seems to be used, many times, as a way to keep the status quo. By "being realistic" we are avoiding change.

And by avoiding change, we are embracing evil.

"Being realistic" is an argument of fear. For, (so goes the argument) if we don't conform to the natural way of the world, we'll be in dire straights, we'll suffer, we'll experience pain, we'll be abused, we'll be falsely accused, we'll lose our worldly goods and security.

This may be true! But what we don't see is that by clinging to our life in this world of evil, we are ourselves becoming evil, for fear of the threats of evil against us. By not changing, by not separating ourselves from the world, from evil, we are supporting it, and are therefore evil as well.

If in response to evil we use the methods of evil to survive, we become evil ourselves. We then pass that evil on to others, who may also be motivated to use evil methods in response to us.

So the next time you hear the "be realistic" argument, take a moment to consider: is this person encouraging me to be good or evil? Is this person arguing against an idea because it won't work, or because it is not right?

We shouldn't give up on doing the right thing just because it "won't work." In the end, the right thing is the only thing that will last.

And as a note of clarification, since I'm posting this on May 2, I'm talking about a higher level than politics here.