What Is Truth?

First off, let’s just start out by saying – “I don’t really know, but I really want to know.” 🙂

In fact the more I seem to know the more I seem to know how much there is I really don’t know.

And maybe that’s the right place to start when discussing such a profound topic.

I was talking to a friend & fellow freedom crusader, Mr. Ed Justus today who expressed to me how, in his mind, a grasp of humility seems to be a crucial step in gaining further light & knowledge.

I learned in my morning study that this humility idea appears to have some strong backing from a man who seems to have been both a billionaire and a seeker of truth, Sir. John Marks Templeton (founder of the famous Templeton mutual fund).

He actually founded an organization called The Humility Theology Information Center.

Interesting right?

And maybe it’s true that the second you claim to have “Captured it” or “Figured it out” – is the second it flees from you.

Like Napoleon Hill wrote in The Law of Success, when you close the cover of the book of knowledge and write “Finis, across the pages” while exclaiming to yourself – there it is – I have learned it all” – you’ve just damned yourself.

Damned meaning “Stopped your progression.”

So maybe, humility is the right place to begin.

That being said, I feel like I’ve found some clues that have been helpful to me along my journey and I want to pass them along to you, as food for thought, in the hopes they can be useful to you as well.

Let me ask you this first though…

As someone who feels like he’s on a search for truth, it’s always been so perplexing to me how difficult it seems to be – to define.

If you want to find something – wouldn’t defining it be a good place to start, so you’ll know it when you find it?

If you have a good definition of truth, I’d love to hear it down below.

Let me share with you a few that I’ve tucked away in my brain over the years.

First, from Jesus…

The truth shall set you free.

That sounds GREAT right? Who doesn’t want to be free?

Only problem here is, it still doesn’t explain what truth actually is.

Another one from Winston Churchhill

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

Ooooh… I like that one. Don’t you?

But yet again, a definition eludes us.

Then one day I was reading a book called “How to Read A Book” by a man named Mortimer Adler who was the chief editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

There I was, reading along and all of a sudden I read something that made me sit up in my chair.

He said, “The truth is easy to define.”

Huh?

Ok, let’s have it sir!

If it is, it is. If it isn’t, it isn’t.

ha ha.

Well that makes sense, right?

On one level that makes total, complete and absolute sense!

We want what we believe and latch onto as ‘The Truth‘ to be factual right?

Here are some other things to consider.

While factual information may certainly be one aspect or definition of truth,

…is that the definition we seem to be looking for with that yearning deep down inside?

Are we just looking for facts regardless of what those facts say or what they mean to us?

Is that the truth we’re looking for?

And what about the idea that facts can be both inspiring or uninspiring, uplifting or deflating.

The newspapers are filled with “Truth” all be it negative, soul-sucking and depressing truth.

Is this what Jesus was talking about when he said “The truth shall set you free?”

And then there’s the case of nonfactual stories that express ideas and principles that make you tingle and feel moved deep down inside.

Per Mr. Adler’s definition – we would have to say,

…”well, that story or movie was just something someone made up – therefore, it didn’t really happen, is not factually based & therefore, isn’t true.”

Wouldn’t it be a mistake to discard something like that & not allow it to influence our journey?

I guess what I’m trying to say is there seem to be

• things that are factually true that are not useful and in some cases actually harmful to our journey’s, and on the flip side,
• there seem to be some things that might not be factually true (like a touching movie), or an old fable that strives to express a great truth through story – that can reach down deep inside and move the soul.

If you’re still reading along – maybe you can see my conundrum and maybe you can even identify with it a bit.

This brings me to the last definition of truth that I’d like to share with you today.

I’d love to invite you to just chew on this a bit and see how it sits with you.

And of course, if you have a better definition or added insights, I’d sure love to hear them below.

A week or so ago I was walking up and down my driveway having a bit of a conversation or prayer.

I was expressing how confused I was on this topic and was asking for help in understanding how to define truth in a way that would ease some of the confusion in my mind.

All of a sudden, a few simple words floated into my mind.

‘Truth is that which leads to God.’

I invite you to say that out loud to yourself.

How does it feel to you when you say it?

For me, it was like the sun coming out, the clouds moving apart and things sort of fell into place for me.

An answer to prayer that brought a bit of peace to my soul.

“Is this idea, person, business, habit, or thing – leading me to God?”

If so, then maybe that’s what Jesus was talking about when he said…

“The truth shall set you free.”

Perhaps this is how a story from a book or a movie doesn’t need to be factually ‘true‘ to fall in line with the above definition.

If a fictional movie is expressing an idea that leads us to…

• Judge less
• Love more
• Express more kindness

We are inspired, because – even though the story might not have occurred in real life, the idea it’s expressing is one which can lead us closer to God if latched onto and lived.

And with this different way of looking at truth…

“Truth is that which leads to God.”

I can see how something can be factually true (like all the worst things people are doing to each other expressed on the news each day) and not lead me to God or provide food for my soul.

Interesting thoughts to consider, right?

What is truth my friend?

I’d love to hear your thoughts below.

PS – This is one of my favorite things to talk about so thanks for allowing me to indulge even though it may or may not be directly related to building an income from home.. 🙂

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