Floating Shadows

Sometimes I feel like this man; alone in a boat on a sea of confusion.
My vessel (boat) is what keeps me afloat, surviving the confusion.
The confusion is the noise in the world from people who are not floating.

Can you see who is good by the clothes worn?

(think religious regimes and demand for the public to dress a certain way)

Some say “yes”, and add “by their clothes you can see they are good.”

If this is true, is it true for everyone who is dressed the same?

Can you hear who is right by the words spoken?

(think religious debates)

Some say “yes”, and add “by their words you can hear they are right.”

If this is true, is it true for everyone who repeats the same religious ideas?

Can you weigh the contents of someone's heart and judge them correctly as righteous (or wicked)?

(think of judging those who don't think like you)

Some say “yes”, and add “by their actions you can weigh what is in their heart by how they act toward others”.

If all this is true, is it true for everyone who dresses the same, talks the same and judges the same?

A life lived on the surface of things can easily agree with the judgment of outer appearance.

But does the surface reveal what is beneath the surface?

Look again at the image of the man in the boat on the sea.

The surface of things does not always reveal what lingers below, or within, or inside.

Consider the surface of human skin, and the surface of ocean waters, and the surface of the land.

Does surface observation reveal what is inside, beneath or within?

Maybe in certain circumstances, but is this true all the time?

If this is not always true regarding the physical things, is it also not always true regarding the matters of the heart, the mind and the soul?

If by outer appearance what is beyond the surface cannot be fully known, why then do people try to judge others by outer appearance?

The emotional (heart), psychological (mind), and spiritual (soul) is non-observable, but only slightly observable from the surface.

A shadow does not properly reveal what causes the shadow.

Yet light is ever present and necessary for a shadow to appear.

Are you a shadow, or the surface of things that causes a shadow, or the light over that object that causes the shadow?