Wednesday, August 27, 2008

A Seeker of Truth

What if I told you I would believe anything if you could prove it to me? Would you be surprised? I think I have come to that place in my life where I want the Truth and nothing but the Truth! I don't want to believe ANYTHING just because I have all my life or because my parents did or because it's the popular thought of the day.

Now you may ask, why am I saying this at this stage of the game?

This new openness and desire kind of "evolved" over the past few weeks as I have had some quality time to spend at my favorite reflection pool-- the ocean. And I am not sure what prompted me to start thinking this way at my age but I'm glad it happened. It could be this book I just finished, Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller.
Or it could be that I don't want to reach the end of my life and find out-- "oh no, I was wrong all along!"

I want to know Truth. I thirst for it. And I want to live my life in the light of that Truth.

Now, can I ask you something? Do you ever question what you believe?

I have off and on through the years but never with as much open mindedness as I have now.

I kind of like this label I have given myself--"Seeker of the Truth". Feels kind of cool to say it and really mean it. OK, I'm sure that I still have thoughts buried in my subconscious that are not easily uncovered and analyzed, so I can't say I'm not influenced by my past. As a matter of fact, I'm thankful for the things I learned as a child because I think they greatly impacted my life for the good.

But what about those who have not been brought up with positive ideas. What about those that are taught to hate like it is the most fundamental truth there is? What about those who have been brought up to believe in different gods? What does their truth look like? Is Truth relative according to your environment, your culture, your world view? Is Truth found in one "special" place or book or is IT spread out everywhere? Is there just ONE Truth or is there many truths? Is Truth what you think it is or what your neighbor thinks it is??? Am I so naive to think that my truth is right and yours isn't?
I used to be.

I am on a journey to discover THE Truth from my new "enlightenment". If that offends you then I ask you--WHY? How do you know you have the ONLY Truth? I REALLY do want to know WHY you think that if you do? And hopefully, I will be able to show you, from the most objective form of discovery I can muster, what I now believe.

I dare you! I dare you to know what you believe-- And to be able to defend it!

And don't believe what you believe just because you have always believed it. Believe it because you KNOW it's true and you are willing to live IT--or die for IT.

I urge you to not go through life believing something because you always have.

There are those who wear a smug cloak of "I found it and you haven't" attitude. They then shut their doors to any other possibilities and refuse to embrace those who come from a different angle. I know none of you are so "intolerant" as that but I have known many who were. I myself have been guilty of slamming the door on others who believed differently from me. And now, to my dismay, I now believe what they were trying to tell me was TRUE! I shut out the Truth because I thought I had already found it. I guarantee you that there is ALWAYS more Truth to be known. None of us have arrived yet!

So I'm going to write about what I find on this journey. A diary, if you will, from the things I discover to be True along the Way. I hope you'll join me. And I hope you'll start your own.

Carol
carolrtexas2@aol.com