"Why?"
"Why don't you find out for yourself? Go up the hill. He's there."
-You Are Special by Max Lucado
So... this is really more of a continuation of the thoughts from my previous post, The Tree of Knowledge. It stems from the idea that if we sincerely want to understand what real truth is, we must be anxiously engaged in searching it out. As I've watched society as a whole, I've noticed a tendency to shy away from this idea: teachers get offended when they are openly questioned by one of their students, mothers worry when their children wonder whether a certain belief system is correct or not, sometimes we even run from ourselves in an attempt to hide from the fact that we don't know everything, that we are still imperfect. But we ARE imperfect. And it is for that exact reason that our perceptions of truth should be questioned, that they can be questioned because real truth will stand the test of time: A tree will always be a tree, no matter which angle you examine it from. If we could really disprove truth, it wouldn't be worth sustained belief in the first place.
I realize that this might be an unnerving idea, but we can't afford to be scared. As a friend of mine once explained to me, "Fear provides nothing - prudence and caution do: They are wise. But there is no benefit in fear... So don't be afraid." My friend's words echoed those in found the Bhagavad Gita "Fear Not. What is not real, never was and never will be. What is real, always was and cannot be destroyed."
-If truth is real, why are we scared to question it?
God is the Master Questioner. In the Torah, he questions His wandering children "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9). In the Book of Mormon He asks His disciples "What is it that ye desire of me?" (3 Nephi 28:1). In the Bible he inquires "Whom say ye that I am?" (Matthew 16:15). In the Qur'an He asks "Is He who creates like him who does not create?" (Surat An-Naĥ 16:17).
Did God ask these questions because He did not know the answers? Of course not; God is omniscient. I propose that God asked these questions because He saw value in the asking of them. He saw potential in the questioning and the wondering and the discovery.
-If truth is real, why are we scared to question it?
Did God ask these questions because He did not know the answers? Of course not; God is omniscient. I propose that God asked these questions because He saw value in the asking of them. He saw potential in the questioning and the wondering and the discovery.
But He didn't stop at just asking. As in all things, God invites us to become like him. Isn't one of the most repeated principles in the LDS cannon "Ask and ye shall receive?" not "it is expected that you already have in your possession." There is no more explicit invitation than that found in the Book of Mormon. "Experiment upon my words" he pleads and then adds this promise "if it be true, ye will begin to say within yourselves - it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me." It is that delicious enlarging and enlightening that allows us to receive the additional truth into our lives. Therefore, we learn line upon line over the course of our lives.
Truth can stand the test of time. You can question and test and experiment all you want and it will still be true. However, with that freedom comes the duality of consequence. Sometimes it is tempting to try to question and question the truth in an attempt to change it. For some reason, we hope that if we can just ask enough questions and do enough experiments that the truth with suddenly become something more convenient. But real truth will not change: circumstances may, but true, guiding principles will not be altered no matter how many times someone wonders if it will. Truth is constant. Truth is real.
I would LOVE to hear your view on these ideas. The statements I've just made are not perfect, but I believe them to based in truth. Don't want to take my word for it? Good.
I like what you have to say here Kathryn. I met a member of the church on my mission who often said that we need to grown up about the things we believe. I think that what he meant by that is that we need to be willing and able to closely examine the beliefs that we hold, to fully understand first what it is that we believe, and secondly, why we believe it. As we do so however, I think it is important that we distinguish between things that are true, and Truth itself. There are many things that are true, but they are not all Truth. The fact that I am sitting in a chair right now is true, but that does not mean that it will always be true. The fact that God loves his children is Truth. It has always been true, and always will be, independent of time or circumstance. In our contemplation of our beliefs, we must be careful not to supplant things that are Truth, with things that are merely true. With time we will find that regardless of our views on the matter, there is only one source of Truth, and he is willing to give freely as we are willing to receive.
ReplyDelete