The Truth Will Set Us Free

 

I ought to be surprised, but I am not really. Truth has always been controversial. From Pilate's cynical query, "What is truth?" to the long lineage of skepticism in philosophy, truth has always been a difficult concept. Recently, we have seen communities fractured, families divided, and long-time friends driven apart by “different truths.” Truth seekers have come under fire for being “judgy” and bigoted. Politicians have used gaslighting to undermine the notion of truth itself. Seeking and speaking the truth has fallen out of fashion in 21^st-century America. Fortunately, truth does not depend on winning an election. It lives on whether 1 person or 72 million people believe it exists. In the following paragraphs, I offer this celebration of truth to the thoughtful and soulful spirit.

 

Our search for truth does not begin in the catacomb of ideas and insights that pour forth from libraries and lecture halls. Seeking truth does not start with a keen eye and logical observation of the world around us. Finding truth does not start with a carefully crafted question or ingenious experimentation meant to tease it out of nature. If our search for truth began in these places, it would arouse little controversy or discussion. It would simply exist. We would spend our time refining and sharpening it through logical processes. But, in fact, truth is far too powerful to be captured in any process, perception, or proposition.

 

Truth gives shape to every quark, muon, electron, atom, molecule, or complex compound in the universe. In truth, both wisdom and beauty find their fullest expression. Truth offers the only safe harbor for hope and is the polar star in our search for meaning in life. Truth shines light on the hidden realm of magic and draws a curtain of mystery around the most subtle processes in the universe. When grasped, truth deceives us into believing that we have captured and controlled it. When, in fact, while shaping our past and future, it cannot be controlled or contained. At best, we can see its fleeting shadow on the walls of experience, but only if we commit ourselves to it with our whole heart. Truth cannot be held in our hands. It cannot be contained in our minds. Truth must be eternally pursued, and that journey must begin in the soul.

 

Because of its power, truth has several pretenders. Certainty dresses up like truth for those too impatient to wait for its appearance. Prejudice wraps itself in truthiness when the human spirit is too lazy to see beyond its biases and self-interest. Logic circled like wagons around a comfortable idea, can be used to masquerade like truth in the mind that is afraid to be challenged or found wanting. These pretenders offer assurance to a soul that has cut itself off from the search for truth. They allow the impatient, lazy, and fearful soul to leave the path and set up camp in the wilderness. There, they lash out at the "lion, tigers, and bears" that circle their encampment in the darkness just beyond the light cast by their certainty, prejudices, and logic.

 

The search for truth demands that we leave that campfire and take to the road with a deep, visceral desire to know the truth wherever it may lead. This desire needs to be rekindled with every step we take. It awakens every question we encounter along the way. This desire for truth helps us keep our hearts, minds, and souls open to a truly brave new world that awaits the faithful sojourner. The soul's desire for the true will leads us through the fog of uncertainty as our constant companion. It will provide the strength we need to take that next step into a future hidden in the mists of time and the inevitable changes that await us. An existential yearning to know the truth will fill our journey with everything we need to honor the precious gift of life bestowed on us in our all-too-brief moment by 13.8 billion years of existence itself.

 

This search for truth will set us free from our prejudices and hatred. It will unlock the hidden closets that contain our true selves and lead us to fully embrace our humanity and the humanity in every other soul. The search will lead us beyond the comfortable confines of self-imposed limitations that stunt our growth and keep us ignorant of all that awaits the curious and awakened soul.

 

Unfortunately, this truth, as observed by Joe Klaas, will piss you off before you feel the chains dropping from your ankles. It may even grip you in unyielding arms of terror before revealing the awe and wonder before your eyes. But this truth is more real than our imagination. It feels ethereal, but like the shadows in a darkened wilderness, it is more real than the pretended reality around our little campfire can ever be. Truth does not begin in the mind or the world beyond our perception. It begins in the deepest recesses of the human soul. It starts with a simple question, “Do you want to follow the evidence of the universe, or are you satisfied with the confirmation of your biases and treasured beliefs?” The answer demands that we be honest about why we seek what we seek.

 

In response to Pilate’s cynical query to Jesus on the day of his execution,” What is Truth?” we can reply, “Truth is an invitation. It is the appetizer that calls us to the table of curiosity that feeds the mind, body, and soul. It is the way to true humanity. It is the path to life in all its fullness. Truth is the way to genuine freedom!"

 

However, as Oscar Wilde wrote, “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”

 

J.K. Dowling posited through Professor Dumbledore, “The truth … is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.”

 

Mahatma Gandhi suggests that truth is invincible. “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it – always.”

 

I will leave the final words on this celebration of Truth to George Orwell, "In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

 

The search for truth awaits the faithful heart, the curious mind, and an unflagging presence in your world.

 

Travel well, my friends.

Bob

Alexa, Thank You

 

Mom, me, and Kenny in 1964 on the road to New Mexico.

Recently, after hearing distant thunder, I wondered about the forecast. Unfortunately, my phone was not within reach. And being too lazy to fire up the laptop, I turned to my Echo Show and asked, “Alexa, what’s the forecast?” My dutiful digital assistant quickly responded. When “she” finished, I responded, without thinking, “Alexa, thank you!" My Mama always taught me to say please and thank you, but I am not sure this is what she meant. I laughed at myself and forgot about the incident, though Alexa's kindness in response to my "thank you" did linger. You see, Alexa thanked me for my kindness. Obviously, Alexa's Mama, or programmers, also taught her well.

 

Over the years, I have thanked Alexa for forecasts, adding things to our shopping list, or updating me on the headlines. Each time, Alexa responds with one of several responses thanking me for my kindness. It has become a little game, but I suspect it is actually more than a “little game.”

 

I don’t know about you, but I sure miss kindness! Being considerate has become rare in our internet-driven, hit-and-run culture that is less concerned about other’s feelings than our own impulses. Rudeness is in! We refuse to acknowledge when we are at fault and never apologize. Taking other's generosity for granted and taking it as our due without a thank you. Mocking people who struggle and disrespecting people who disagree with us is the order of the day. This is nothing new, but this bad behavior has never had the social acceptance it enjoys. It’s called rudeness and reveals our culture's fundamental lack of kindness.

 

I could drone on about why the change happened and parse the various ways we have become so uncaring and inconsiderate. But I suspect there is no going back. While the history and analysis might be interesting, they will not likely take us back to what one GOP President described as a “kinder and gentler America.” Nope, now we must look forward and discover ways to restore consideration and respect for others in our daily conversations and interactions. My suggestion? Two simple words: discipline and practice.

 

My Mom considered kindness a skill rather than a deep-seated value grounded in a lasting compassion and respect for ourselves and others. (I said I wasn't going to parse it out, but I couldn't help myself.) I suspect she believed that her “little heathens” (she raised four boys) needed to acquire the skill of kindness, and the understanding would follow. So, we were taught to say “Please” and “Thank you.” When a grandparent was talking, we listened. When someone was on the phone, everyone else remained quiet. No one took the last serving of mashed potatoes. If you bumped into someone accidentally, you said, "I'm sorry." If someone’s hands were full, we opened the door for them. Did she stop and explain the why and when of each incident when we transgressed Mom’s rule of the road? Nope,  for Mom, "the look," usually followed by the question, "Did you forget something?" was enough to prompt our kind response. My Mom understood that we needed to practice more than a lecture, and she helped us “practice” kindness, whether we understood it or not. She trusted that as we grew, we would come to see and appreciate kindness for its own sake, and her "guidance" would no longer be needed. (She was, after all, an optimist.)

 

Mom understood that being courteous and sensitive to others is not only about them. How I treat others is about who I am as a person. The world sees us through our words and actions far more accurately than in the carefully crafted and coifed face we present each day. Being a good person had nothing to do with success and bank accounts. Being a good person was all about how we treated others. She taught her boys that our consideration and respect for others said far more about us than anything else we would ever do or say. In her book, being kind is a fundamental skill for a good person.

 

Mom has been gone for almost 30 years, and I am still working on this skill. There are people whom I find it very easy to disrespect and treat inconsiderately. I find it especially easy to be unkind to people who did not have a mom to teach them the importance of kindness. When I slipped up, I saw my Mom look and heard her question, “Did you forget something?” This kindness stuff requires lots of practice regardless of how long I have worked on it.

 

I suspect many of us need much more practice at being kind! I also suspect that if we want to change the world around us, we might start by being a lot more intentional about practicing kindness. For me, that means thanking Alexa as often as I think about it. Kindness is not necessarily just about being kinder. It’s called practice at being a decent human being. And I know with absolute certainty that our world needs another good and decent human being.

 

Bob

 

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