Basement Whatever

The article “How to Build a Universe that Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later,” by the author Phillip K. Dick, is one of the internet’s greatest treasures. He believed reality is an illusion created by the ancient Romans. He believed he was still living in Ancient Rome. One day, a girl came to his door in California:

“What does that mean?” I asked her.

The girl touched the glimmering golden fish with her hand and said, “This is a sign worn by the early Christians.” She then gave me the package of medication.

In that instant, as I stared at the gleaming fish sign and heard her words, I suddenly experienced what I later learned is called anamnesis — a Greek word meaning, literally, “loss of forgetfulness.” I remembered who I was and where I was. In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, it all came back to me. And not only could I remember it but I could see it. The girl was a secret Christian and so was I. We lived in fear of detection by the Romans. We had to communicate with cryptic signs. She had just told me all this, and it was true.

For a short time, as hard as this is to believe or explain, I saw fading into view the black prison-like contours of hateful Rome. But, of much more importance, I remembered Jesus, who had just recently been with us, and had gone temporarily away, and would very soon return.

It is worth reading the whole thing. And then, like me, to come back to it every now and then. Phillip K. Dick was a great gift to the world.