A jungle tribe walks down a path. They come upon a man lying beside the path with mushroom stems around him. The chief asks the youth, “What do you see?” One young man replies, “A man dead.” “What else?” “Mushroom pieces.”

“Well, but what do you see?” the chief repeats. The answer comes back. “A man dead and mushroom pieces.” The chief grows impatient, “I mean what do you see?” The youth look puzzled. The face of one brightens, “Oh, the mushroom must be poisonous and that’s what killed him.” The light had gone on. The youth not only looked upon the man and the mushrooms, but he looked and saw relationships which produced new meaning.

To look deeply into what is before us prompts new meaning and understanding.

I once met a woman who had spent several years in Bangladesh. Along with most fo…