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June 26, 2006
Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
[John
8:32 KJV]
Quotes about the
truth abound. Hard truths. The truth, we are told, sometimes hurts.
Hurt though it
may, we are challenged. If the shoe fits, wear it. Hard truths
become real in a concrete picture. Truth is pinching toes and chafing
heels. Here it is. Truth. Now, wear it, we are told, like it or
not.
All the religions of the world, while
they may differ in other respects, unitedly proclaim that nothing
lives in this world but Truth.
[Mohandas
Gandhi]
The world
proclaims truth. Yet we chafe against the chafing shoe. Modern
discourse is never so painful as when the truth is at stake. Truth is
valued today…but…only so far as truth allows us to feel good about
ourselves.
Modern discourse
is all about being “nice.” We have given way to political
correctness. Truth is now an enemy at any point where it hurts
someone’s feelings, where the toes are pinched and the heel hurts.
We are enjoined
at every turn to show tolerance. In essence, we are told we must not
make any statement that hurts someone’s feelings. If truth must be
sacrificed in the process, then, so be it. This is modern wisdom.
The superior man understands what is
right; the inferior man understands what will sell….The
object of the superior man is truth.
[Confucius]
The unfortunate
and unexpected consequence of our failure to defend truth today is our
inability to sustain love. We have lost sight of the benefits of hard
truth. The truth that pinches our toes and chafes our heels is a
saving truth. It warns us of oncoming blisters, of ill-fitting
beliefs that will eventually harm us if left unchallenged and
untreated.
Truth is the
foundation of a life of love. It is the essential component of
love…hard truth, truth holding us accountable, marking the points in
life where we have erred, and sparking the corrections needed through
a repentant heart forgiven in love.
We must not
regard with contempt the rebuke of a just man, for such a rebuke is
the destruction of sin and a healing for the heart, as well as a path
for God to the soul.
[Bernard of
Clairvaux]
It is no mistake
that Satan is described as the Master of Deceit. Lies are the
beginning of death. They are the curtain that covers a truth we need
for survival, a disguise that reassures us, that makes us feel good.
Removing truth
from our popular culture is like washing the blood from a wound
without applying stitches to close the gash. In a topsy-turvy world,
where nice is more important than truth, we have
declared moral surgeons evil and cling to people who would have us
believe we are no longer bleeding.
He
who corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a
wicked man incurs injury.
[Prov 9:7 RSV]
Sacrificing
truth destroys love. It allows us to be “nice.” But “being nice” at
the expense of being truthful is not an act of love. Instead, it is a
selfish act rewarded by approval from those we excuse. We purchase
friendships and loyalty by blinking at lies and deceit.
When we reject
truth in an effort to be “nice” we have violated the first requirement
of love. By
rejecting the existence of an eternal truth that requires discernment
and obedience, we are denying those we care about the fruits of love
that flow from truth.
A
rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows
into a fool.
[Prov 17:10 RSV]
Truth conveyed
by those who love me, is the kindness that keeps me from falling from
the precipice of self-conceit. It allows me a course-correction. It
is a gift of love risked by a true friend who is willing to suffer for
my sake.
And they sent
their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we
know that you are true, and teach the way of God truthfully, and care
for no man; for you do not regard the position of men.
[Mat 22:16
RSV]
Just as world
faiths have something in common in their search for truth, they are
unified in their definition of love. God is love.
Christ was
defined as The Truth and The Way. As God’s saving gift
of love given to mankind, Christ personified love. He is the perfect
union of truth and love, fully necessary to save us from ourselves.
The lies that
tickle our ears may make us feel good for today. But in denying
truth, we sell short the future for our children. A society that
sacrifices truth for the sake of love paves the road to death.
Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence
of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the
public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate
are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray
them.
--Joseph Story
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Joseph Story was
an Associate Justice on the U.S. SUPREME COURT. Justice Story
delivered the majority opinion freeing the Amistad captives in
March 1841.
Copyright © 2006 Jane Jimenez
February 27, 2006
The Science of Wisdom
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