The Matrix & The Perfect Marriage

The rabbis have long taught that the physical world is only a reflection of the spiritual world. That there is nothing in this world that is not present in a spiritual construct in the heavenly sphere. Indeed, the Kabbalists teach that the physical world is really just a physical manifestation of spiritual energy waiting interaction with humans for the release of spiritual energy. I believe Einstein said something like that too -- physical mass is just energy awaiting release into the atmosphere.

The movie "The Matrix" was brilliant theater based on this type of physical/spiritual interplay, with many deeper levels of spiritual and religious insight. It it, however, not the purpose of this blog to explore the screenplay for these insights, but rather only to point out that the physical world can be an fascinating mapquest into our spiritual and emotional lives. Each day I discover more and more of these journeys and from time to time I would like to open my atlas and share a particular road trip.

Take Concrete Floor Finishing for example (puhleeze!). Diamond polished concrete floors are the newest thing in construction. Wal-Mart, Lowes, Costco and Home Depot are all specifying polished concrete in their newly constructed stores.

The process is quite interesting. Concrete is a mixture of crushed stone, limestone, cement, sand and water. Early in the mixing process, the concrete is liquid and pours easily -- conforming to the boundaries of the container into which it is poured. With a little guidance it will also level itself out and begin to harden -- eventually becoming as hard as a rock.

Diamonds, on the other hand begin as rotting vegetation, which under tremendous pressure, time and heat become coal and then eventually the hardest crystalline structure known to man.

Concrete floors are polished by mechanically subjecting their surface to diamond cylinders rotating at high speed and pressure. As the friction and heat mount, the diamonds and the concrete are simultaneously worn away and the floors become shiny and new looking.

Here's the interesting part: once used on a particular floor, the diamond cylinders can only be used together as a set since their surfaces conform to the shape of the softer concrete floor.

It occurred to me one day that this process of friction and change between two incredibly hard surfaces describes quite well the interaction in a good relationship. My wife and I have been married for 21 years. On some issues she's the diamonds and and I'm the concrete and sometimes its the other way around. But we're both hard to change and it is only by dint of pressure, time and friction that we are able to become polished. But through it all, we conform more and more to each other.

Concrete Polishing equals a good marriage? Perhaps it's a bit of a stretch, but I hope the point is not too obtuse. My point is that the physical world is constructed in such a way as to teach us spiritual matters. Next time: light refraction and truth.