Watching a play , we willingly suspend our disbelief. Until the final curtain, we watch the events on stage as if they are real. Yet, theater itself is a flawed metaphor for life. Watching an evening’s performance is clearly a separate experience from life outside the theater. In everyday life, the boundary between the external event and the audience is distinct.
However, the border between personal fantasy and our actual lives is less clear. It is impossible to know for sure when we are seeing the world as it is, and when we are seeing it as we believe it should be. For example, it can be dangerous to believe so completely in people in authority that you don’t question whether they are right.
Pursuing final answers to ultimate questions leaves us depressed. Becoming apathetic cynics doesn’t feel any better. Knowing that no way of looking at life is any more real than another, we may freely choose those metaphors that make our lives more colorful and our relationships richer. Whether or not God exists , believing in Him (or Her) is an awesome journey. No metaphor is more powerful than this.
Act as if you believe in a higher power.