The Truth is the Truth

Greetings Dear Readers,

Recently I have had to deal with several truths that are both unpleasant and painful. Put simply put they are still truths. Some truths are still simple. If you drop a pen gravity will take hold and the pen will fall to the floor. Some truths we count on to be true. Others we avoid like a funny smelling uncle or a rosewater smelling aunt.

The thing we must embrace is that there are truths we refuse to embrace. I do not want for a moment to diminish hope. We can accept painful or messy truths without giving up hope. We can have real hope without shutting out truth. I have over and over wrestled with truths that I would rather deny but are painfully rising to the surface.

As a teacher I lay out truths daily hoping that students will catch the important ones. I know they watch me. I know they look to see how I handle the painful truths in my life. I know they watch to see if I will live what I believe or if my “truth” is just another stream of carob coated words professing to be chocolate.

Last time I wrote about some very painful truths and they were accompanied by a discussion with beloved Son, Maxim. We talked about the way Christians often hide hard truths from people to supposedly protect them from losing faith. If faith is based on, well faith, then asking for certain truths to be evident is a detractor. Maxim and I spoke of the event in John’s Gospel concerning the woman caught in adultery. The earliest manuscripts we have do not contain this passage. This is simple truth. I do not know if there definitive evidence either way yet. I do know that what matters is that people will not even talk about it.

We no longer truly deal in truth. We deal in the stories and filters that we put in place to make our lives easier or more comfortable. We do not wrestle with the things that will not make our families, faith, or careers more unsettled. We instead live with lies and vagaries that supposedly make us comfortable. I did this in my marriage and it cost me my wife.

What we must do is embrace truth at any cost. We must do it lovingly and with kindness or compassion as necessary. We must deal in truth coupled with grace. I must leave behind my safety nets and conveniences and speak the truth in love no matter what the cost. God is good and he knows what he is doing.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn