Truth is conformity with reality or fact regarding that which is, that which has been, or that which shall be.
We had a family friend back in the 1950s named W. Clement Stone. He was a very wealthy insurance tycoon in Chicago and the successful author of such books as, “Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude”. I remember him saying, “Truth will always be truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbeliefs, or ignorance.” I was in high school at that time and was beginning to pay attention to such ideas. It was also about that time when I was hearing our heart-throb idol, Elvis Presley telling us that truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time but it ain’t goin’ away. At some point back there, I locked into the idea that truth was truth.
Do you ever kind of get “homesick” for a time and place in the past years of your life, when you would hear someone say something to you, and what they said to you was just the simple truth? You could relax in what they said. You could go from there with enough confidence to perhaps even use what they had said to influence you and help you make a good decision, that would help shape the very future of your own life. You could count on them telling you the truth.
I have to admit that I have become bothered lately with how we handle this phenomenon called truth. Expedience seems to be the new referee judging and calling the shots. Culture seems to give a green flag to being able to say whatever needs to be said at the given moment that will advance the desired narrative. The true story may be at the other end of the playing field.
It seems to me that it’s the lies that are invented – but the truth continues to exist somewhere in the mess. Recently, it has been the truth that becomes difficult to discover as I try to dig through the mess.
That “homesick” feeling for the truth that I have been experiencing, has led me to do a bit of introspection. I’m glad that I still have fond memories of a culture of truth, and that I still have a deep longing to once again enjoy its security and stability. I have also focused on a new resolve in my own life -- to be sensitive and more keenly aware of my own inner thoughts and intentions and determine with all there is of me to be a man of truth.
Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgements endureth forever. (Ps. 119:160 KJV)
As we, the people created in the image of God, embrace truth, then our character becomes good because our character is the sum total of all we decided, by choice, to accept. When I was a kid, someone told me that if you tell the truth, it becomes a part of your past. If you tell a lie it becomes part of your future. AND THAT’S THE TRUTH!