reality

C.S. Lewis in A Grief Observed wrote about the shattering of his faith after his wife's death:

"You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. (p. 22)

"Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief. (p.23)

" ...if my house was a house of cards, the sooner it was knocked down the better. And only suffering could do it. (p.38)

"God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn't. In this trial He makes us occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down. (p. 52)

"My idea of God is not a divine idea. It has to be shattered time after time. He shatters it Himself. He is the great iconoclast. Could we not almost say that this shattering is one of the marks of His presence? And most are 'offended' by the iconoclasm; and blessed are those who are not. (p.66)

"All reality is iconoclastic." (p.66)

If decision is needed between reality or a concept developed in the mind, take reality. Life is found in reality. Truth is found in reality.