THE REAL THING

My wife and I were visiting New York City a few years ago. We were walking down 57th Street one evening when we passed a stand where a man was selling watches. The man said that they were Gucci watches. When we asked how much they were, he said, "$10.00." I said, "You can't buy a Gucci watch for $10.00." He said, "How about this Rolex for $15.00?" Sometimes we are tempted to settle for imitations in this life when our hearts yearn for the real thing. We each have a deep craving for authen-ticity, be it a material object or a spiritual experience. We want the highest and best for ourselves and our world. We don't have to settle for a second-hand life— we can choose the real, the good and the true. Inside of each of us there is that which nothing in life can imitate or falsify. We are here on this earth to find and express our unique, authentic self to and through our world.