Reflection - Truth

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/063016.cfm

Amos 7:10-17
Matthew 9:1-8

Modern day Turkey is the remnant of the Ottoman Empire, a kingdom which rivaled the more ancient Byzantine Empire in size. It was aligned with the Central Powers of Europe during World War I; and, upon their defeat, it was essentially reduced in land area to the country of Turkey which we know today. In the decades leading up to the First World War, and particularly during the period of 1915-1916, the Ottoman Empire systematically annihilated an ethnic group known as Armenians. Several international organizations have conducted studies of the atrocities, each in turn determining that the term "genocide" aptly describes "the Ottoman massacre of Armenians in 1915–16".

In a recent visit to Armenia, Pope Francis referred to the murderous incident as the first genocide of the 20th century. The Turkish deputy prime minister called the Pope's comments “greatly unfortunate” and said they bore the hallmarks of the “mentality of the Crusades.” Turkey still today continues to deny that such a slaughter ever took place.

So much for truth.

Truth is a notoriously secreted commodity in the record of human events. I remember the joke -- or maybe it was fact -- about how Russian news reported the results of a contest between US and Russian athletes. The report said that the Russians came in second and the US team was next to last. What  was missing in the report was a small detail: only a US team and a Russian team participated. Truth can be obfuscated in a variety of ways. 

This morning's Old Testament reading details what sometimes happens to the truth, particularly a truth that's hard to hear. A man who has been designated a priest of the kingdom reports to the king. 

     “Amos [the prophet] has conspired against you here within Israel;

     the country cannot endure all his words.

     For this is what Amos says:

     Jeroboam [the king] shall die by the sword,

     and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land.”

Words that are true are not always welcomed. Amos was banished:

     "Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah!

     . . . never again prophesy in Bethel."

So much for truth.

Speaking truth fares no better in later centuries. A paralytic is brought to Jesus and Jesus tells him: "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven." The response of some Scribes is immediate: "This man is blaspheming." Not, "I wonder why he said that?" Or, "That seems like a strange thing to say." Not even, "Is it possible his words are true?" With lightning speed the truth is dismissed. "This man is blaspheming."

So much for truth.

Pontius Pilate expressed skepticism at the possibility of truth. When "Pilate said to him [Jesus], "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice." 

And "Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" (John 18:37-38)

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy maintains that, "Truth is one of the central subjects in philosophy. It is also one of the largest. Truth has been a topic of discussion in its own right for thousands of years." Truth, along with other concepts like love and justice, dominate the philosophical field precisely because they are core issues which the minds and hearts of men recognize as central to our very existence. We pursue them because we innately know that our relationship to them is central to our very being. They are foundational to who we are in the universe.

In spite of this -- or maybe because of this -- at the individual level truth is often suspect, an unwelcome visitor, or a guest as satisfying as an open wound. Inadequacies, failures, foolish errors and just plain stupid mistakes get shoved into a cubicle and stored in my mental warehouse. I ignore the root causes of my anger. I deny that my behavior is sometimes more appropriate to a spoiled child. I twist the past to make it palatable. I deceive myself into believing that I always welcome the truth. I am content with an unstudied, even improvised, understanding of truth. 

Truth is cloistered, hidden, isolated, concealed. It is called obscure, ambiguous, and arcane. It is denied, rejected and disavowed. It is relegated to the obsolete, the antiquated, the passé. So-called truth is said to be what conforms to a reality that cannot truly be known.

In John's Gospel Jesus proclaims: "The truth will make you free." (John 8:32) I find it difficult to comprehend or accept that approaching the truth as relative or defining it by the norms of science will enhance my freedom. Yet, I believe Jesus' statement to be true. Every time I have confronted my own denials, my own self-deceptions, my own rationalizations, and the circumstances of the past that I try so hard to disown -- every time I have examined any of these things I have done to minimize the truth, I have found myself with greater freedom. And, co-mingled with that freedom is a stronger and more intimate relationship with Jesus. 

Jesus' assertion, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." (John 14:6), has been one that I have found particularly puzzling. What exactly did he mean in claiming that he, himself, was "the truth"? I find myself still pondering that question, trying to give words to an answer that my mind can grasp. Somehow it glitters and shines on the fringes of my understanding; and I struggle with giving it proper voice. The words elude me. Still, I know that it is connected to Jesus' relationship to the Father and that there is only one truth. That truth is what God is, if I would know truth -- not truths, but truth -- then I must know Jesus. All that is true in creation, all that is true in morality, all that is true in love and in justice flows from the essence of God.

Maybe, in time, my mind and heart will be sufficiently aligned with the mind of Jesus and his words will penetrate with understanding. " . . . all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15)