Is life a dream?

One night at dinner my granddaughter asked the question “Is life a dream?” I answered “That’s a good question, Carly. I don’t know.” In our science and religion discussion group we have spent much time considering the nature of reality. Since neuroscientists tell us that the brain cannot tell the difference between what we actually see and what we imagine, the nature of reality is an open question. As Americans our relationship with reality is often one of keeping it at arms length. The closest that many of us want to get to reality is our couch in front of the TV watching a reality TV show. (Perhaps I am not a good one to comment on this as I may be the only person who has not seen even one episode of “Survivor”) Even our trips are designed to shield us from reality. If we want to see Africa we can go to African Safari in Disney World. That way we won’t have to experience the poverty stricken people, AIDs ravaged populations, poachers and the blood and killing of the prey predator relationship. If we want to see Venice without the canals that in many ways are just open sewers and without the destruction being caused by sinking land and rising sea levels, we can go the Venetian in Las Vegas with canals filled with filtered water and high end designer shops far from the sea. Soon, courtesy of the Israeli government, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, we may be able experience the holy land of Israel/Palestine at a theme park in the Galilee. (This project took a little detour when Pat Robertson opined that God had caused Ariel Sharon’s stroke in revenge for pulling out of Gaza. However, money talks and the project will probably go forward.) We can then experience Bethlehem with lowing cattle and sleeping babies rather than barbed wire, walls, poverty, Apache helicopters, and targeted killings. We can experience Jerusalem without the crowds and glitz of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and without fear of the random suicide bomber. We can experience a nice neat carpenter shop rather than the bustling Arab city of Nazareth. We will probably have to check our back packs and handbags at the entrance. Hopefully we will not have to check our brains as well.