Across the Ocean
The ocean is a vast expanse of unruly elements in which man finds himself an insignificant speck of floating driftwood. But if he hoists up a sail and holds it steady, he can navigate these treacherous seas until he reaches dry land. Such is the value of framing the unfathomable problem of his own existence; to navigate his way through the conflict and to arrive finally at the shores of meaning. For without meaning man feels lost; the mere sight of the boundless ocean that surrounds him fills him with trepidation. He needs structure and this structure is his own sail; his own mind.
One cannot vanquish conflict just as one cannot vanquish the ocean; that is impossible. One uses the ocean and its elements to avoid the harm the ocean might afflict upon him. That is the genius of man. It has taken him to where he is today. But this progress has come at some cost. In being consumed by his own rationality, man mistakes the sail for the wind that billows inside it. He celebrates the fruit of his own labors but not the action of nature that allows them to bear fruit. This mystery is the generative principle – it is the subtle, vital force that produces a magnificent oak from the tiny space inside the acorn seed. It is the mystery of the invisible rendered visible.
