“A Man’s Got To Know His Limitations…” (Clint Eastwood)

An extraordinary amount of grief in my life has been caused by beliefs about myself being significantly out of sync with Reality. Hmm, let’s be honest here: beliefs that my knowledge/abilities/good looks/talent/etc. are GREATER than they really are!

But alas, four-score-and-ten years of only 24 hours to the day is a crushing limitation.

I read somewhere that the average CEO reads one book a week. (That’s pretty aggressive, especially considering that I read somewhere else that the average college graduate never reads another book!) Over, say, a 50 year reading period, that works out to roughly 2,500 books I can hope to read in a lifetime. The University of California at Riverside is the largest library within close proximity to me–I believe they have a couple million volumes. So in my lifetime I can’t expect to read more than 2,500/2,000,000 = 0.1% That’s not much of a dent in just that one library.

Some of the books in that library can demand an entire lifetime unto themselves. Glenn Gould had a great career as a concert pianist playing little besides Bach. Many a scientist has devoted their lives to solving just one problem. Biblical scholars devote their entire lives to just one Book.

How many years does it take to live in a culture and learn its language and its ways? How many cultures are there in the world?

How many years does it take to learn to cook? Weld? Play the piano?

How many of the economists who didn’t see the biggest Economic Tsunami of the Century coming, are now sure they know what we need to do to get us out of it?

Then President Bush announced on June 5, 2003, regarding the Iraq War: “Mission Accomplished!” And it still isn’t…

The point is that we are all prone to “fools rushing in where angels fear to tread.” It almost seems as if my degree of certainty about a question is inversely proportional to how much I actually know about it! That I am all too quick to judge others without ‘walking a mile in their moccasins’.

As I have worked with the idea of rejecting all False Certainty–about myself, about my neighbor, about EVERYTHING–I find myself just relaxing into being a Human Being, and much more accepting of the other Human Beings in my life.

My grandmother used to say: “Take each day and work it out.” Perhaps that is all that is really given us. But that is a lot! And it’s enough.

Learn all you can! But as you pick up that little shiny pebble of learning on the beach of Knowledge, don’t forget about the unfathomable ocean that still lies before you.

ALLEGORY: Grimpil and the “Land of Ocula”

At an opportune time in his journey, Grimpil found himself in a land called “Ocula”. He sojourned into the village, and discovered that none of the citizens spoke—they all used sign language.

“Are all of you hearing-impaired?” he signed to one of its citizens (for Grimpil was fluent in sign and many other languages).

“What is ‘hearing-impaired’?” the citizen replied.

“Why, the inability to perceive sound,” Grimpil replied.

“What is ‘sound’?,” she replied.

“It’s like THIS” and Grimpil shouted a loud “Hello! Hello!”.

The citizen signed: “I saw you exhale with vigor, but I still have no idea what you mean by ‘sound’.”

“OVER HERE! OVER HERE” Grimpil heard, and following the sound he found a young lad shut up in a pillory.

“Are all the citizens of this region deaf?” Grimpil asked Pillory Boy.

“Only by habit,” Pillory Boy replied. “Infants can hear well enough, but by upbringing, and the mockery and pressure of their peers, they soon learn to shut out and turn off their God-given ability to hear.”

“And why are you shut up in this pillory?” asked Grimpil.

“I had the temerity to suggest that they use their ears to hear! To LISTEN!” replied Pillory Boy.

“This is ridiculous!” said Grimpil. “I shall speak to the magistrate at once and secure your release.”

With just a few inquiries, Grimpil soon found the Magistrate.

“Is it true,” Grimpil demanded, “that you have pilloried a young man for the supposed crime of suggesting that people use their ears to hear? To LISTEN?”

“That is a very serious crime, a very serious crime indeed!” said the Magistrate. “All of our scientists agree that there is nothing beyond the four senses. This ridiculous and discredited notion of ‘sound’ is nothing but the deluded ravings of deranged minds.”

“But I can hear perfectly well,” said Grimpil.

“Of course you… CAN’T!” said the Magistrate. “Any supposed experience of an extra-sensory perception like ‘sound’ would have to be irrational and contradict the four senses.”

“Not at all,” said Grimpil. “My experience of ‘sound’ dovetails perfectly with my experiences from my other four senses. I have never experienced any contradiction at all!”

“You speak very dangerous words, stranger. In times past we have tortured and even killed those who have suggested the existence of this so-called “fifth sense.” Such ravings are a threat to our society and we won’t have it! I suggest that you leave our village immediately, or you’ll be joining your friend in the pillory—or worse!”

“Can I take Pillory Boy with me?” asked Grimpil.

“Begone with you both!” signed the Magistrate, who ordered the bailiff to release Pillory Boy and escort them both under heavy guard to the edge of their land. “Return at your grave peril!” signed the Magistrate.

So Grimpil shook the dust off of his sandals and hurried away on his journey with his new companion Pillory Boy.

New Music/Image/Poem: “The Journey”

(The poem, image, and music belong together)

The Journey

If darkness be east,
Go west!
If evil be south,
Go north!
If want be below,
Go above!
If sadness be without,
Go within!

You will never find the Water of Life
Lying in the desert:

“Look how bright is the sun!” you say.
“See how the dunes shimmer!
See how beautiful and unique
Is each and every grain of sand!

Or:

“Woe is me!
It is too hard!
I am not strong enough,
Wise enough,
Beautiful enough,
Wealthy enough,
Anything enough
To rouse myself!

Countless are the excuses
With which we distract ourselves,
That keep us prostrate,
That lull us into a fatal sleep,
Slowly dying of thirst,
Slowly transforming us
Into crumbling bones in the sand.

Better to follow visions of Water,
Even mirages!
Than to lay down in the sand and die!

Better to follow rumors of Water,
Hearsay from fellow travelers,
And even the occasional deliberate Lie
Than to lay down in the sand and die!

Run when you can!
Crawl when you must!
But if you keep your course
Strait and True,
Guided by Eternal Polaris by night,
And the sun’s passing shadows by day,
In due time you will find Paradise.

The Compass

Every journey needs a compass. But compasses usually have their arrows pointing outward–the image for “The Journey” has its arrows pointing inward.

And, the ‘eye’ is an apt symbol for ‘reason’ (as in: “I SEE what you mean”). Meanwhile,  St. John (and others) inform us that “God is Love” (heart)–and not “God is Thought” (mind)! In this image, “heart/Love” envelopes “mind/reason.” Mind without heart is as inclined towards Evil as Good (e.g. Hitler’s acknowledged genius). But Mind directed and focused by Heart/Love–ah–that be a True Compass!!

With your indulgence, the remaining symbolism of this image is left as an exercise to the reader…

The Music

“The Journey” is scored for glass armonica, string orchestra and harp.

• Here's the the whole piece (7:04)
• Here's the the first 30 seconds
• Here's the the score

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