"Without revelation, the people perish."  Translated as the first part of Proverbs 29:18 in the King James version of the Bible, these few words say volumes about the state of reality.  They tell us that without revelation, that is, communication from some point outside of ourselves, we miss the point.

     Without this type of communication, we live in a closed world, a terminal system.  We cannot see beyond ourselves.  We miss the greater meaning without which we cannot make sense of who we are.  Absent revelation, we wallow in the speculations of our finitude, even while we remain fully aware of our tendency to look beyond it.

    

    To a larger point, whether it is of this world or another one that speaks into our present moment, we can agree, I suggest, that we cannot easily live without acknowledging such a vision's necessity in our lives.

     So whose revelation is right?  All of them?  None of them?  If we reject transcendence as a source of vision, we are left with a revelation of ourselves and our ideals, ideals which we and ourselves, and only we and ourselves, assess and judge.  And how do we ultimately know?  It seems that revelation and greater vision are most meaningful if they reflect the vision of a reality out of which this present one comes.

     And as the world continues to endure all manner of existential and political crises, we do well to realize that we are not alone.