There is a story about two people who liked to go rock collecting out in desolate areas. Sometimes they would fly to one particular place up in Alaska in a floatplane. One year when it was time to leave that place, their pilot firmly told them he thought they'd collected too many rocks. "I'm not sure the plane would ever make it off of the water," he said. "Nonsense," said one collector, "last year the pilot took off easily." "Oh. Well, OK, I guess you can load the rocks on," the pilot conceded rather tentatively. After a long run across the lake they took off but then had to make a crash landing. "Darn," said one collector. "It happened again," said the other. "What?" exclaimed the pilot. "You said last year's pilot took off without a hitch." "Yes," said the first collector, "but you did much better. You made it more than a hundred yards farther up the mountain."
Like these two would-be travelers, have we ever found ourselves repeatedly traveling along paths of blunder, paths that may seem all too familiar? The people in the story obviously weren't alert to the fact that they were making the same mistake as before. Sometimes we aren't either. Repetitive evils—whether mistakes, unfulfilled hopes, deceit, jealousy, or even illness—can be so disappointing.
Recurring errors point to a need for change at a basic level. What's involved in such change? First of all, it's important to admit that change is not only desirable but possible. Then there is a need to gain a better understanding of who we really are and of what governs us. Knowing more about these things is at the very heart of spiritually progressive change, and it not only enables us to act with greater dominion, it enables us to perceive the influences in human thought that would obstruct our progress—influences sometimes so subtle we aren't aware of their presence.
