The Journey

Once a person heard rumor of a wonderful spring that existed in some far off country that could heal the achy longing of the heart. So this person set off in search of the spring. The person had many adventures and endured many hardships. Finally the person arrived at the sacred spot and drank from the healing waters. The rumors were true- the spring was truly magical and satisfied as nothing else could. The person bottled as much as possible, brought it home and enjoyed it for some time. Eventually it became necessary to travel back to get more. Others heard about the wonderful spring, and so after some time, more and more people made the long and dangerous pilgrimage to the sacred site. A wise person saw all the people making the journey and benefiting from the life-giving waters. “It’s so wonderful that you have discovered the true waters of life!” said the wise person. “But what if I told you that you didn’t have to go anywhere? What if I told you that the waters are right here as well?”

The people were puzzled. “We don’t see any spring of water,” they said. “It’s true,” said the wise person, “there is no spring here. But that’s just because there is no opening here in the earth for the water to come through. If you dig, you will find the same water, right here.”

But the people did not believe him. How could the healing water possibly exist where they lived all along? So they continued to journey, and they developed a whole complex system for obtaining, importing and selling the magic water.

So- would you rather journey, or dig? Or neither?