A recent comment on one of my good friend Ray Ward’s reports, has encouraged me to communicate with you these following words:
In a recent book, and a film, called The Other Side of Heaven, John H. Groberg tells the story of an elderly Tongan sailor.
It reads: “In Tongan the word hala means road or path, but is incomplete by itself and needs to have a modifier, such as hala uta (path on land) or hala tali (path on sea). I became convinced that many of those old captains were as sure where they were on their sea paths as we are on our land paths. The ocean is home to them and they develop a feel that is hard for us to comprehend. Let me give an example: I remember returning home from a long voyage in very contrary weather with heavy seas, strong winds, and a cloudy, rainy sky. We were out of sight of land all afternoon, all night and into the next morning. I became a little concerned and asked the captain if he knew for sure where we were.
Aside from Descartes and other philosophical ideas that we were taught in school, there is a reality that we all seem to struggle to understand most of our lives. Some of us cling to religious ideas to “emotionally” survive. I find no fault in searching or even claiming these ideas as one’s own. “We see through [a] glass darkly”. The variation of what we each see through our biological eyes may be minimal, however our minds often perceive great differences.
