Seems like a strange contrast doesn’t it? At first glance, one might ask aren’t they the same thing? Aren’t reality and the truth just synonyms? Well, it is my contention that they can be quite different things in this crazy hayride we call life. While such cosmic terms cannot lend themselves to accurate descriptions anymore than we can answer the question, “How large is the universe?” perhaps I can still offer some food for thought. Perhaps such dissociation can and often does exist.
While the issue of reality and truth has always been in the back of my mind, it only really crystallized when I watched the film, “The Rite”. The story was supposedly based on a book by Matt Baglio which followed his real life foray into the world of exorcisms, demonic possession and his own evolution from sceptic to believer. While I am not particularly religious, I do consider myself spiritual and very much fascinated by such matters. I have always believed there is something out there that is beyond our understanding – pretty un-academic huh? The film is actually an honest attempt to move beyond the gory horror genre that exorcism movies are generally confined to and makes an attempt to address the issues of faith and spirituality underneath. However, there aren’t any earth shattering revelations and the by the end you know you’ve seen a Hollywood polished film. Yet one scene towards the beginning still grabbed my attention and served as the impetus for my existential inquiry.
The film follows sceptic Michael Kovak who is studying to become a priest but has yet to receive the gift of faith and is highly sceptical of religion. In his words, he does believe in evil but questions whether it is the devil that is behind it. He seems lost yet still searching for answers, for undeniable proof. He is not sure he even wants to pursue this life and decides to finally quit. He writes a letter of resignation from the course and sends it off. The scene I alluded to begins with Michael crossing the street (how ironic and poetic?). A woman riding a bicycle is struck by a van as she adjusts and is gravely injured. With bystanders gathering around, Michael covers the dying woman with his jacket and tries to offer some gestures of comfort. Through the pouring rain and the black of night, she can see Michael’s uniform and mistakes him for an actual priest. With her final breaths, she asks him to bless her before she dies. It’s clear that her time is growing short and these may very well be her final moments on earth. She tells Michael she does not want to die like this and pleads with Michael for her last rites. Michael debates what to do considering that in reality he has only been studying and is not officially a priest. An additional inconvenient reality is his doubt of religion. Yet the truth is that this woman does not know any of this and she is dying....plain and simple. Soon, she will be gone and she is pleading for a few final moments of comfort as her conscience begs to be cleared and her spirit blessed. Michael begins to say the prayers as her gaze softens and she begins to drift away. For a few seconds, the raw truth of the moment supersedes any notion of reality and everyone looks on in quiet awe as her eyes close for the final time. Whether one believes in religion or not, believes in evil or not; the one thing that most people can understand is the need for comfort in the face of overwhelming circumstances. The truth is that she didn’t need to know the reality of his situation. She did not need an official or “real” priest; she needed to find comfort in the truth that she was not alone during those final moments.
For those interested, here is a link to the scene....I highly recommend watching it and giving it some thought.....
So the question remains, are reality and truth the same thing? Perhaps it is more of a question of context and absolute rules are seldom found. I consider it more of a question of whether it is POSSIBLE that reality and truth can be two different things. I’ve come to the conclusion that yes it can. I often find that reality is “the way things are” while the truth is more along the lines of “the way things should or can be.” The grim reality of cruelty and evil in our world reveal themselves through an infinite number of horrific acts which stain the history of mankind. From the six million jews exterminated by the Nazis to animal cruelty to bullying in our schools; the reality is that we can be a wretched species. At the same time, we also have an incredibly plastic mind that can adapt the ‘truth perceived’ to the ‘reality experienced’. Viktor Frankl writes in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning” that during his horrific treatment in the concentration camps at the hands of the Nazi’s, the one thing that kept him going was the ‘truth’ he realized after some time. The ‘truth’ that despite the reality of his hellish conditions, the way he reacted to this situation was a freedom that NO ONE could ever take away from him. In his mind, in his spirit, he could choose and while it was small consolation, this ‘truth’ allowed him to survive his ‘reality’. In his words:
“...occasionally I looked at the sky, where the stars were fading and the pink light of the morning was beginning to spread behind a dark bank of clouds. But my mind clung to my wife's image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her look was then more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise.
A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth -- that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way—an honorable way—in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words: The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory...."
The power of the human spirit is truly awe inspiring in such situations. Similar examples reveal themselves in all sorts of situations which illuminate the power of the truth as perceived during different realities. Athletes endure pain and agony for an ideal they hold dear. An unconventional context like professional wrestling is ripe with examples. Why would someone go through more physical pain than most traditional “athletes” when they don’t have to? It’s pre-determined right? The reason is because despite the reality of its orchestrated nature, these men and women believe in an idea, in a vision, in a truth only few are privileged to perceive. The truth is that it’s not how hard you hit; it’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward (as Rocky Balboa would say). That’s how legends are born. I’ve seen men be driven head first into a pile of thumbtacks, have their necks broken on live TV and not only keep going but have the people in the arena LITERALLY will them back to their feet with a standing ovation. That may not be real in the traditional sense but the feelings and emotions are true; it becomes true in a sense. As Picasso once said “Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.”
At the end of the day, it’s up to each person to decide what is real and what the truth is. Do they coincide or are they separate? Does it matter? Is it something you believe or is it something someone tells you? Perhaps I’m just over-analyzing as usual. The one thing I do know is that reality can be truly underwhelming. Sometimes the truth is that there is something out there. Something you can’t put your finger on, something that stops time briefly and can happen anywhere. Something that you can’t even label with traditional forms of language and can only be felt within the heart. As it`s been said before, something that much like the wind in the trees, it may not be visible, but we can see and hear its effects. The reality may be that I`m simply confusing my terms and being a little too existential. Or....the truth could be that the human mind and spirit is capable of more than we give it credit for. I leave such judgments to you but as you ponder and pontificate, remember what Aristotle said:
- “It is the mark of an educated mind to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
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