Truth

What is truth? When I looked up the definition of the word in my Merriam-Webster there were several to choose from. Most dealt with the state of being, facts, and actuality. One, in particular, did catch my attention: the body of true statements and propositions. This one seemed interesting to me in that a body of anything can change at any moment through additions and/or subtractions. That would make truth a variable to be defined, but I have always believed truth to be a constant. And yet new truths are being learned all the time and once in a while old “truths” are disproved. So how can this be?

The answer is found in the difference between universal truth and truth as we know it. There are many true statements, but only one universal truth. Universal truth is static, has always existed, and does not require belief. Universal truth includes all true statements whether or not they have been discovered yet. The universal truth cannot be fully known until all true statements have been discovered and all untrue “truths” dissolved. Mankind is making new discoveries all the time. Discoveries that do not add to the universal truth, but add only to our understanding of it. In this way truth is likened to an onion in that many layers must be peeled away, and some of them are bound to cause tears.

So why do so many claim to know the whole of truth? Perhaps, because it is scary to admit we don’t? Believing we know everything there is can make us feel more secure in our existence. But, it is a sham. A sham that is easily exposed when we consider that the discoveries of tomorrow will indeed add to the knowledge we possess today; and will most likely refute a few ideas we hold as true. This has happened in the past, so could it not happen in the future? Yet, to many, admitting how much we actually don’t know is one of their greatest fears. Religion plays on this fear by claming full knowledge of the truth. All religions claim to have all the answers. This comforts the many while angering the few.

Why do we fear the unknown anyway? Fear is the most deceptive of emotions. FDR said it best, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” We need not fear the truth; even if it doesn’t coincide with what we already believe. For knowing the truth can only make us less fearful in the end. Do we fear solar eclipses today? At one time they were considered a punishment from on high. Today we understand the truth of what is happening during an eclipse because of science. Some fear science. Why? Science is not evil anymore than is the truth. True science is nothing more than observation and continues to lead us closer to universal truth.

I leave you with one final thought: It’s not so important what truth is as what it is not.

Is this possible? I leave it to you…