"What is the truth for the man who believes and cannot believe that there is a truth beyond all truths, to know which is to be himself made whole and true?"(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p. 260)
Telling the truth is something we parents try to instill in our children, as our parents probably tried in us. Of course the human condition has a hard time with the truth, because we fear the consequences. If I tell the truth, will I get in trouble? If I tell the truth will this relationship suffer? If the truth of who I really am or what I really think comes out, will anyone really like me?
Truth also flows for me in and out of trust. Do I trust the ability of another to forgive? Do I trust the strength of the relationship to endure? Do I trust that who I actually am is worth knowing?
What for me is not completely the same are the words truth and fact. There are things for me that cannot be proven, that may not be a fact, but they don't need to be to ring very true for me. This is the hardest thing for a believer to explain to someone who doesn't believe. It is sometimes the greatest inner struggle for those of us who believe. Pilate asked Jesus, what is truth? He didn't ask what is the truth. And there is a real difference between those two questions.
Blessings,
Ed
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