Saturday, July 28, 2007

Truth vs Unbelief...

I love mowing the grass because it gives me time to think, to ponder, to process. This morning as I mowed a neat realization came to me. Please, indulge me...

I have a friend who, based on personal experience and circumstances, tends to dismiss things I say as not believable, and for some time I let that bother me, yet after some attention and processing I realize that it isn't my issue to be bothered by. This morning I had a bit of an epiphany; Just because someone doesn't believe, or even chooses not to believe, doesn't make the fact or statement any less true. If I know the statement is absolutely true then the problem lies with the receiver, for experience or circumstance has skewed their ability to receive truth through their personal filter. Truth is truth. And absolute truth is constant, (although I acknowledge the existence of conditional truth that is not what we're discussing here). So when I make a statement that I know to be true, despite another's willingness to accept it, the statement is true. Period.
The sad thing is that too often we all can tend to grow calloused to the truth, especially as we grow older and experience more and more lies and deceit from our fellow man. We tend to become skeptics instead of being vulnerable, open, and receptive. We veiw things through a filter of negativity, even when appearing positive, for that is what we've "learned" from each other. Unbelief is a relational killer, the prime component in the breakdown of trust
Yet all is not lost, for if we cultivate a relationally safe environment for trust to grow and be nourished then truth will ultimately win out. For where trust grows vulnerability deepens, and our eyes are ultimately opened to truth and we will ultimately receive. One day, (perhaps in the not to distannt future), I anticipate confirmation that my words are believed, that my friend trusts me enough to believe my words as true...

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