Sounds like a pretty simple idea.
We all agree that truth is a good thing. We teach our kids to “tell the truth”. We say that we want more of it. We see others doing and saying things that don’t seem true fairly frequently and this offends us…….at least intellectually.
But, how much of our effort goes into seeking the truth internally. In other words, how much time do we spend dispassionately analysing the things that we say, believe, and do in order to determine if they align with the truth?
The truth, it turns out, is a bit more complicated than we like to admit.
One of our greatest failings is that we tend to filter the truths that we encounter. We pay attention to the truths that support our beliefs and we ignore the truths that keep us from getting what we want.
Here is wisdom………it is entirely possible…..even common….. to say a dozen things all of which are factually correct and in the process to be untruthful…….. to lie. It turns out, that in any area of controversy, there is truth on both sides. As an example: a woman should be able to control her body without government interference…. and……abortion kills her child. If you only deal with the truth on one side of an issue and ignore the truth on the other side, then you are being dishonest. And we all do this……every day. How many conservatives do you know who only watch Fox? How many liberals do you know who only watch CNN? Do YOU watch both? Or do you just listen to the talking heads who tell you what you already believe?
There is even a term for this……”the echo chamber effect”.
If the truths that you focus on uniformly support what you believe……what you want. If the truths that you believe never lead you to change. If the truths that you believe never drive you to do something outside of your comfort zone, something that you wouldn’t ordinarily do……..then you are either a saint or you are ignoring the truths that you don’t like.
The great immutable truths are in our hearts from birth. We all recognize these same basic truths…… because they were intentionally put there……..by our Creator. We can run from them. We can beat them down. We can try to bury them. But, they are there…….. If we care to look. If we are honest with ourselves.
There is a connection between God and truth because God is the source of truth. There is a connection between truth and joy because the closer that we get to truth, the more joy we feel. In a word…….the closer that we come to God and his truth, the more joy we feel.
So…..what is true?
God is love……..he loves me…..and I love him.
I love my children and my grandchildren.
God is truth.
Loving others brings us joy.
To cause others pain is bad.
To help the downtrodden is good.
There is something bigger than me.
There is something waiting for me……after I die.
There is good in my heart……. but there is evil as well.
There is good in the world and there is evil…… hatred, lust, jealousy, murder, and, yes, dishonesty to name a few. Each of us has both good and evil inside of us. Most of the ideas that we support contain both good and bad…… and it’s a lot more fun to attack the bad in the other guy than it is to ferret out the bad inside of us.
But…… honesty demands that we look at both the truths that we like and at the truths that bother us….. the truths that restrict us and our appetites.
Democrats must look at the harm that abortion does.
Republicans must look at the harm that gun violence does.
Or we could just keep attacking each other……..an ongoing exersize in dishonesty……..each of us ignoring the inconvenient truths that tell us that we are at least partly wrong…..and, all of the while, believing that we occupy the moral high ground.
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Jesus, NIV
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”
Jesus, NIV