"Some of the Wemmicks admired Lucia for having no dots, so they would run up and give her a star. But it would fall off. Others would look down on her for having no stars, so they would give her a dot. But it wouldn't stay either."
-You Are Special by Max Lucado
We are beings of truth. One of the most important things that distinguishes human beings from all other species is our ability to differentiate between right and wrong, to recognize Truth. It is obvious that the whole of humanity differs in our opinions of what is "right" and what is "wrong." However, the very sense each of us have that there is a "right" or that there is a "wrong" - even the fact that some believe that they are "right" to believe that there is no "wrong" - PROVES there is some kind of truth that exists outside of ourselves. (For anyone interested in a more in-depth exploration of this idea, the first couple chapters of C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity is absolutely brilliant... but we are going to move on now. :D)
If truth is actually universal, then it is something to be deeply valued. Only consider: in a world where "every man profits according to his own genius," where the only constant part of life is change, where it is every man for himself, Universal Truth would bind the entire human race together under a single ideal. Imagine what we could accomplish if we were of one heart and one mind! The problem is that because we are imperfect, because we are weak, our individual perceptions of truth are slightly skewed. Just as my expired contacts don't allow me to see perfectly - no matter how hard I look - neither can imperfect people perceive truth perfectly no matter how hard they try.
Now, just because my prescription does not give me 20/20 vision, should I wash my contacts down the drain? What an absurd idea! I would be completely lost. Does the fact that I cant quite make out the outlines of the leaves on a distant tree mean that the leaves aren't there? Or that I can't KNOW that the leaves are there? Or how about a more consequential question: Does the fact that my friend (who has a better prescription than I do) sees the leaves in a slightly different way than I do signify that leaves don't have a true form? If it did, my prescription wouldn't matter; contacts would be meaningless because they would only assist me in trying to reach a standard that never existed in the first place.
Thankfully, there is a constant, true form to leaves. Just because nobody on earth can pinpoint exactly what it is doesn't mean that it is not real. In addition, there are a lot of different perspectives from which even people with 20/20 vision can look at the leaf. Someone standing under the tree would have a completely different idea of what a leaf looks like than someone with an aerial perspective. But both are real and both are true and both are part of the leaf and wouldn't it be wonderful for us to know exactly what the leaf looks like from all sides? If we could accomplish that, our knowledge of the leaf would be perfect. How foolish is the perfectly-sighted person who stands with her nose against the tree and insists that she knows what the leaf looks like! Granted, she have some concept of leaves. But is a leaf really so limited in meaning that is can be summed up by a mere glance? No. Each of us must step back and admit to ourselves that our small understanding barely encompasses the reality of what a "leaf" is.
There are many additional analogies that can be made between eyesight and perception of truth. For example, we go to the eye doctor to come closer to seeing reality the way that it IS. There is a reason that we don't go to the heart surgeon (qualified as he may be) to get our eyes checked. Another analogy may be drawn from the fact that even my father, who has perfect vision, goes in for an annual eye check-up.
The point is, if we really want to know what truth -real truth- is, we must be anxiously engaged in searching it out. If there is, in fact, Universal Truth that binds each of us to our neighbor, it means there is more to this life than just existing, that there is some kind of purpose ...maybe there is more to this life than meets our eyes.
Kathryn, you are amazing and your insights astound me. I'm so excited to be your cousin! I love reading everything you have to say. keep it up!
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with everything you have written in your blog posts, it is well written and a pleasure to read. Thank you. I have a harder time expressing my thoughts in words and writing so I apologize in advance but he are a few of my thoughts that I had as I read what you said about truth. As I was reflecting on the properties of truth I realized that it is true that none of us are perfect and thus cannot perfectly understand truth. This may seem that our truth seeking endeavor is impossible and we should just give up now. However, this inadequacy is in no way an excuse to allow yourself to believe in false ideas and half-truths, rather it is an invitation to continue to learn, grow, and progress, so that one day you can perfectly understand truth as a perfected being.
ReplyDeleteMany people fear to discover truth for they fear of being wrong. They do not commit to any belief for they fear that it may be wrong. These people allow the fear of harboring an incorrect truth to prevent them from finding any real truth at all. For example, a young man who feels that a young woman likes him but is afraid to show any signs of affection in return, for he fears that he could embarrass himself if he is wrong in his assumption that the girl likes him. Or the person who refuses to believe in God, because he lacks complete deductive evidence of God. He wants to be certain that there is a God BEFORE he starts to believe, and thus he makes no effort to come closer to God. Interestingly, we see that a leap of faith, or hope, or trust is needed in order to discover truth. The people in the earlier examples are not progressing rather they sit in the mire of confusion, and suspicion instead of making steps toward discovery, or as Pres. Uchtdorf called it “Waiting on the road to Damascus”. Many people fear to be labeled as “foolish” or “wrong” and thus make no effort in finding truth, but rather decide to be decisionless. When you decide to be decisionless, you will never discover truths, but will always harbor false ideas. Choosing not to profess to believe in God is still choosing not to believe in Him. Ultimately we are responsible for discovering these truths, for God is still there whether or not we choose to believe in Him or if we choose to be indecisive. Rather than making our choice by not choosing we must boldly accept and internalize truth to truly discover it. Only when internalize ideas can we truly understand what they mean.
Of course, this entails that we will accept incorrect truths or ideas. In these instances once again we see the invitation to increase in wisdom, learning, and understanding to discover deeper truth. Notice the wording of deeper truth. When you run into a problem in your belief model that does not mean your model is completely wrong, rather it means that there is some truth lacking, a truth that needs to be discovered; another level of truth. For example, a young child may wonder why his plant that he keeps in the closet but gives plenty of water does not grow. He is correct in the belief that water helps plants to grow, but is lacking the truth that plants also need sunlight. He should not stop giving his plant water because his current belief model isn’t working; rather it is time that he learn about the importance of sunlight. This seems obvious in such a simple example, but as soon as we apply that idea in our own lives we see how difficult learning truth really is. A wise man once told me to never abandon a system of belief (he was talking about religion) when you run into a problem or what may seem to be a contradiction. Rather continue to work through those problems and try to find answers. Every system of belief has problems associated with it, and if you change your belief as soon as a problem happens you will be stuck in the mire of skepticism and indecisiveness. However, if there is significant evidence and reasoning in changing your belief model, then you must indeed change it. But never throw away your world view as soon as you hit a bump in the road, work through it!
ReplyDeleteIn summary, avoiding believing in something simply because you aren’t completely sure that it is correct will always lead to nowhere except for an absence of truth and growth. You need to make leaps of faith in order to grow. In the process of discovering truth we must work through the problems that arise within each of our belief models, only then can we progress and continue to find those deeper truths. Don’t get stuck in the mire of suspicion and fear, rather research, then commit to a system of belief, and if you mess up, and fall, then get back up and try again. Imagine what would have happened if Joseph Smith gave up in Christianity just because it didn’t make complete sense and there were conflicting ideas. Rather he studied, he asked, he worked through the problems and discovered the deeper truths. We must do likewise in our journey to discover truth and ultimately become perfect.