Truth...

Truth…is a four-letter word…

I am not an educated person. Never have been…never will be…nor will I profess to be. Even though I graduated with top honors at my high school, spent some six years toddling about on a college campus chasing a double major and currently take off-campus seminary classes, I’m constantly reminded, daily, that I am drastically un-educated. However, the life that I’ve accepted…the life I’ve been called to, is a breeding ground for knowledge…and wisdom. One thing I have learned, is, that the absorption of knowledge and wisdom is a choice we each will make. As for me, just call me a sponge.

One thing that I am becoming increasingly concerned about, is truth. Ask a hundred people the question, “What is truth?”, and you could receive up to a hundred different answers. And to each person, their answer is the correct answer.

The concept of truth, is changing. The application of truth is disappearing. As I observe my world around me, it’s becoming distinctively clear that the definition of truth is changing daily. We seem to define truth as it best fits our needs. What once was a world…a society where black and white defined our every move, now has become redecorated with shades of grey…and the boldness of black and white are quickly fading into oblivion.

Politicians, today, are prime examples of this. The political ‘houses’ they are building, are nothing more than a snap-shot of suburbia where all the houses are constructed using the same masterplan with bland shades of grey used for every sheet of wallpaper and trim, down to the lack-luster granite of the counter-tops. But the exteriors are another story….boldly fashioned with vibrant colors, sure to excite our mind’s eyes. What’s on the outside, isn’t always…I’ll let you finish the sentence.

There’s another neighborhood being built however, just across life’s interstate that has the potential of being the homestead of many strangers who are longing to relocate. Home sites have been cleared and foundations poured that appear to be the strongest around. Highway billboards and websites point to the excitement as these new homes are being built at a rapid pace. A Master Carpenter has been selected…the blueprints have been approved…and Phase I is nearing completion. The new subdivision is filled with pulsating colors and children’s voices echo throughout the streets. But secretly meeting in one of the unfinished homes is a group of laborers who are planning a coo against the Master Carpenter. “He doesn’t know what’s best for us,” they say, “We know how to do things better…and cheaper.” And look, the new homes have added a new dimension, they've added steeples.

So for the most part, the Master Carpenter has been asked to leave and a new hierarchy of leadership has taken over. With tears in his eyes, He walks away heart broken, knowing what His plans were for the neighborhood will no longer see reality…unless something changes.

The new leadership starts out strong, trying to maintain the status quo...with one huge exception. Now, the new occupants are allowed to choose the paint scheme for their new homes. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem. But after a great deal of inspection, the new homes have taken on an eerie resemblance of another neighborhood just a few exits away. Now it's become hard to tell one neighborhood from the other.

The Master Carpenter stands in the distance…longing…yearning, while the occupants are busy making painstaking trips back and forth to the paint store where they are overstocked in multiple shades of grey.

Truth is a four letter word...I'll let you fill in the blanks...and it's not found in a paint store.