And diff’ring judgments serve to declare that truth lies somewhere, if we knew but where. ~William Cowper
I love truth. I imagine my role in life to be the troublesome child who announces that the emperor is wearing no clothes. Often, the “elephants” in the room are clearer to me than other humans nearby. I go for days accomplishing little because the inside of my brain resembles a disassembled toaster–nothing is left unexamined down to its smallest particle.
But, to my continual frustration, emperors avoid being faced with the obvious, elephants are perfectly comfortable where they are, and a toaster in pieces is not good for much.
Still, I am convinced of the beauty and priceless value of truth, and am ready and willing to do battle against its too common counterfeits:
- Self-righteous offense–“How dare you believe differently!”
- Pious platitude–“I’m sure he didn’t mean to hit you.”
- Cynical sneer–“It amuses me to prove how deluded you are.”
Do you see yourself in any of those three? The tendency to moralize, to sentimentalize or to destroy any idea or thought left unguarded?
Or, to put it another way, is truth my fiercely guarded possession, silly putty to suit my fancy or a weapon of snarky destruction?
When I indulge in any of the three, I am holding truth hostage to lies.
What is truth? The Roman governor Pontius Pilate asked that question of Jesus, and it wasn’t because he was stupid or unfamiliar with the prevailing viewpoints of his day. There was a reason he failed to see.
And I think I know what it was. (To be continued…)
What have you noticed about truth’s counterfeits?
6 replies on “What is Truth?”
Counterfiet truth confuses because it often contains partial truths. But aren’t “partial truths” almost oxymoronic? Truth is one of the few things I believe is black and white. Maybe? Your post, as always, is causing me to ponder and question. Great job! Thanks, Janet.
Great point, Ginny! What do we do with partial truth? I’m having fun with the next post…
Partial truth is the realm of Satan – from the partial truth he insinuated in the Garden, to the partial truths he whispered in the Wilderness. I find Jesus’ response in the Wilderness to be a great model – he exposed the lies by giving full Scriptural truth.
But in the fuzzy thinking I encounter almost daily, it’s not always so easy to even identify the lies, let alone know how to respond. And I find partial-truth-worldviews to be the most difficult for people to see, because it’s easy to only focus on the mostly true parts, rather than the totally false parts. Hmmm… great post, Janet
This is so true, Linda. I heard recently that Satan doesn’t want to be God’s opposite, he wants to be his counterfeit! So much more subtle and dangerous…
“Truth” in its present ideological context has vacuumed out all mystical elements leaving only shallow sand and a few bleached bones on the beach of rationalism. Prove to me the “truth” that you love your husband. See what I mean?
Keep ’em comin’…R
I agree, Robert! We gnaw on those bleached bones and snarl at one another…