My daughter is teaching a class at her church. The assignment was to identify something you know as absolute truth. It is an amazing experience to look at what you believe and why you believe what you believe.
The absolute truth I came up with years ago was that life does not begin at birth or end at death. I was naïve about how much holding this truth central in my awareness would change my beliefs.
Absolute truth is true across platforms. For example, the truth that light dispels darkness. We certainly experienced this truth standing in Mammoth Cave. All lights were turned off. We stood in pitch black before our guide lit one small match. It was incredible how much that tiny flame illuminated the space.
“This too shall pass,” is another truth we talked about.
You may appreciate watching the talk ‘How Do You Define Truth?’ put out by the C.S Lewis Institute. The Institute is a nonprofit organization designed to develop disciples who will articulate, defend and live their faith in Christ in personal and public life.
The definition of truth given in this talk: A statement is true when it says what is is, or what is not is not. A statement is false when it says what is is not, or what is not is.
Other comments about truth include: Reality supports the claim truth makes.
Think for a moment about a thought like justice or love.
I appreciated the talk. Opinions can be fair minded. Reasonable people can differ about their opinions.
Truth is said to have three facets: Truth is descriptive; has meaning and application; and is prescriptive.
This past week I sat with two other poets. We have been meeting to write and share. After about an hour of writing, the discussion that followed began to paint the illusion of distance between us. Watching the illusion of this distance expand, I spoke of what I was sensing.
One of the women said, “I think what you are feeling is coming from me.” She went on to share the pain she has felt being ‘right-brained, living in a left-brained world.’ She described how she coped with the pressure of formal education by becoming a people-pleaser. She said she did whatever was necessary to gain approval.
I could feel myself holding space. Almost breathlessly, I watched these two women I respect and love speak from their perspectives.
As I sat holding space, I was aware of my own experience of not being allowed to attend high school because I was a female and married. John was a male and married, so he was allowed to attend.
What is truth?
That which cannot be argued with.
May our opinions — even those justified by truth — be recognized as opinions and not be confused or claimed as absolute truth.
One of the pages that came up when I searched for “life is interconnected and interdependent” was Exploring the Way Life Works: The Science of Biology, by Mahlon B. Hoagland, Bert Dodson, and Judith Hauck.
May the illusion of distance between beings no longer be determined by the distance between heaven and hell: the 18 inches from head to heart.
