We now find ourselves living in a world where truth is no longer defined by fact or information, but rather by individual perception and emotion. As our society becomes increasingly focused on the individual rather than society as a whole, this way point of truth being self-deterministic is a logical stopping place. Mind you, it may not be a healthy point for either the individual nor society as a whole. 

Truth no longer shines forth as the beacon for people to seek and embrace, but rather is being trodden underfoot by individual perspectives and emotions. This is starkly evident in the landscape of social media, which has become gravely antisocial, and agenda driven. It now seems fashionable to perch on our quarantine-induced, isolated summits and lob critique and aspersion at those with whom we disagree, all but abandoning the grace of discourse, discovery, and dialogue.

In my far younger days, if asked who I was, I would proudly say that I am an American. That word carried with it the notion of selflessness, honesty, faith and service to the community. I joyfully served my country as an officer in the United States Army, both in Europe and stateside. I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against enemies foreign and domestic. I have never stepped away from that oath.

Honestly, today I am concerned about truth in the United States. Serious questions exist about the integrity of the recent presidential election. There are confessions of governments outside the USA of detailed involvement in manipulating vote counts. I don’t care what your political stripe is, that should concern us all. Those concerns are seemingly being disregarded by the public at large, and the MSM in particular. Regardless of the outcome, if we desire to be unified, it would seem that we should be willing to properly vet these concerns. 

So where do we find the truth when the information all around us seems to be biased or slanted to the viewpoint of the person dispensing  it. Though too extensive a subject for this post, the Bible is the ultimate source of truth. It is sixty-six books, written by forty different authors, over 1,500 years, and yet has an integrity and uniformity of message that shows it was directed by someone outside of time,  Though people may disagree with it, there has not been one thing disproven in the Bible. It spans time and location. And yes, it provides valuable insight as to how to live our lives.

In the Gospel of John, we read of an exchange between Jesus and His Apostles. 
John 14:5–6 (NKJV) 
5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.  

Notice Jesus claims that He is “the truth”. Really? Yes, really. Each step you take into that proposition, the brighter the reality of that vision dawns. 

The Lord Jesus Christ gave us three commandments that really summarize all we are to do. 

Matthew 22:37–40 (NKJV)

Simply stated:
1. Love the Lord your God with all that you are.
2. Love others as you would want to be loved if you were in their place.
3. Go into the world, telling others about Jesus and what He told us to do.

If we were to simply do our best to do these three things, the lives of so many would be changed. We would start to see each other as valuable, coming together to discover our commonalities first, and celebrating our differences as what makes us individual. There is no religion wrapped in this, but without the Holy Spirit these three are almost impossible to live out. May the Lord bless you richly as you walk closer with Him.

Photo by Michael Carruth on Unsplash