What is Truth?

Greetings. This is my first foray into the world of blogging.

I like to read. I read a lot. Some of what I read is very good, and some is, frankly, a waste of time. Of course, you don't know something is a waste of time until you're finished with it. I will endeavor to write things here that I hope you will not think has wasted your time. I'll try to keep it brief, but I make no promises.

I'm an interested in many things. Life is full of fascinating stuff. So my blogs will probably meander around on a number of different subjects. If something tickles your interest and you'd like to comment, feel free to do so. Just keep it clean and intelligent. You won't be graded on spelling, but please try to keep it understandable.

My blog is "Truth be Told". So today I want to say a few things about TRUTH. There are those who think that truth is whatever one believes in, as in Personal Truth. When I was attending college 30 some years ago, I read Plato's "Republic". Great read, by the way. There was a segment entitled "Allegory of the Cave". Some of you may be familiar with that story. If you are not, here it is in a nutshell. A bunch of guys are being held prisoner inside a cave. They are chained in such a way that they can only see shadows on the wall in front of them. As the guards pass by, their shadows appear to be those of giants. So the prisoners NEVER attempt to escape. Who wants to be killed by a giant, after all?

One day, one brave fellow does escape. He finds that the guards casting those giant shadows are the size of young boys and could easily be overcome by the concerted efforts of the escaping prisoners. When he returns to his fellows with the good news they reject his message out of hand, because they can see the shadows; they know that he's lying to them and will get them all killed if they attempt an escape. No amount of reassurance will change their minds. They "KNOW the truth". The lone man escapes with no trouble at all and leaves his companions to their personal truth. But having seen for himself the TRUTH, he gains his freedom.

Jesus Christ was asked by the religious rulers of His day (Pharisees) about truth. He said, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). So what is TRUTH, with a capital "T"?

Back to Plato for a moment. He figured that there were absolutes in the universe. TRUTH is one of those absolutes. Theories and beliefs abound, but TRUTH is eternal and unchangeable, or it is not true. For example, 2 + 2 = 4. Not even "new math" can mess with that one. It was true way back when and has never changed. (I like mathematics for the purity of expression and because the expressions, once proven, are true.) I could say, if I were color blind, that the sky on a clear, sunny day, is pink. But to those who are not color blind, the sky is truly blue. Me belief doesn't change the truth that the sky is blue, only my ignorance of the truth makes it pink.

So, TRUTH, then isn't what we think or believe it is. TRUTH just IS. And what I would hope more humans would start searching for is TRUTH. Once found, it is precious and satisfying. Don't give up. As they said on the X Files, "The truth is out there". You just have to keep searching.

Have a great day.