This
came to mind two days ago as I heard a devotional talk by BYU President Kevin J
Worthen; he spoke about absolute truth.
Years ago, I decided to quit using the common phrase, “To be honest, …” and instead say, “The truth is, ...” If
I’m maybe dishonest sometimes, and honest other times when I qualify a
statement as “honest”, what does that imply?
Anything I say otherwise may be suspect.
One might see only a slight distinction here, but it's significant to me.
Admittedly,
I use Google Search and Wikipedia a lot, well aware that they are not always trustworthy
sources of truth. I chuckled when Pres.
Worthen quipped, referring to the New Testament epistle (1:5), “James did not say,
‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him Google.’ … Sometimes we can't make it all add up, because
we don't have all the numbers." As a student of math, I
liked that too.
In
a CES broadcast for young-adult students, January 2013, a talk entitled
"What Is Truth?" was given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First
Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Reading it for the first time, I see it as a
classic, inspired discourse. He told the
familiar story of “The Blind Men and the Elephant” with this introduction: “Well
over one hundred years ago, an American poet put to rhyme an ancient parable.” Concluding the poem, he said, “I
suppose the reason this story has remained so popular in so many cultures and
over so many years is because of its universal application. The Apostle Paul
said that in this world the light is dim and we see only part of the truth as
though we are looking ‘through a glass, darkly.’ And yet it seems to be part of
our nature as human beings to make assumptions about people, politics, and
piety based on our incomplete and often misleading experience.”
Typical
of the former airline pilot, President Uchtdorf went on to state a fact, then use analogy:
"The
thing about truth is that it exists beyond belief. It is true even if nobody
believes it.
We
can say west is north and north is west all day long and even believe it with
all our heart, but if, for example, we want to fly from Quito, Ecuador, to New
York City in the United States, there is only one direction that will lead us
there, and that is north—west just won’t do.
Of
course, this is just a simple aviation analogy. However, there is indeed such a
thing as absolute truth—unassailable, unchangeable truth. … I
bless you with confidence in the Lord and a deep-rooted desire to rightfully
discern truth from error—now and throughout your life."
– lds.org/broadcasts/article/ces-devotionals/2013/01/...
The truth is, Kay and I know it is true,
and hope our children and grandchildren do too.
Kay watching wildlife at Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve (2 June 2014)
Our quiet walk with sunlight in the Sacred Grove, New York (12 June 2010)
