Are You in the Matrix or Am I?

I would love to tell you that I now have all the answers. Believe me. I would love nothing more than to spout off profound words of wisdom that I accumulated by what I went through.
But that would be make-believe. And I've had enough pretending.
So, no words of wisdom; I'm just going to be...to gingerbread men's surprise...HONEST.

I had hit rock-bottom.

My logic was useless.

The counsel I was receiving from college and peers was tainted.

And I felt that I had the wisdom and experience of the average two-year old.

What do you do when you discover that you've been living a lie? That you've been duped, taken, shafted.

Well, I'm not positive about what you should do. But you can always do what I did.

...I RAN...

No, not physically. Unfortunately I could not afford a plane ticket to Thailand...my Matrix world of Bachelor's degrees and self-made security happened to have drained my bank account as well...go figure.
No, I ran away mentally.
I became a silent rebel against the gingerbread cut-out.
What did I do?
I put my fingers deep inside my ears...I stopped listening.
I still turned in the assignments, I still passed the exams. I looked faithful and fooled on the outside; but now I was different.
I had doubted and discovered.
I knew their dirty secret...I could feel their childishness.

I could now...bend the spoon.

The funny thing about running though, is that it doesn't get you very far unless you know where you are going.

This is where I was; this is where I am.

I may have ditched the royal icing bow-tie and now have the ability to bend cereal spoons; but now I must know where I'm supposed to GO.

What now?

Lucky for me; Truth knows all about the Matrix.

I believe Truth smiles, while shaking His head, as he sees gingerbread people throw down their ties. He may even let out a sigh as He watches them begin to run.

He appreciates every bent spoon we hand Him...but He knows that this is just the very beginning.

Like a father waiting patiently for their child to finish tying their shoes for the first time; Truth nods at my spoon and brushes some cinnamon from my hair.
He smiles, "Now that you've caught on...let's get going."

But Truth starts slow...if bent spoons blow her mind let's not show her everything at once.

For that I am grateful. I was ready to go. I was ready for something so big, so mind-shattering, so profoundly different, that I might not be able to handle it.
But do you know what Truth gave me first?

Something old.

Something I'd learned and understood years ago. But slippage had taken it away...big surprise.

It was a simple truth contained in a few tiny passages I had memorized in Sunday school...