The current cultural climate reminded me of a situation I had with my sons when they were growing up. They were each arguing because they felt that their view was the correct view. They were a few feet apart, as I asked them to hold on just a minute. I retrieved a plain writing tablet and held it up between them so they could each see one side.
I asked my oldest what he saw.
He said, “I see a gray piece of cardboard, with a line of tape across the top.
Turning to his brother, I asked him the same question, “And what do you see?” He replied, “I see a piece of yellow paper with lines on it, and tape across the top.”
I declared, “Well, you cannot both be right, so which one of you is telling a lie?”
I then asked them to switch places and repeated the same set of questions, with similar results, albeit from different kids. I pointed out that from their perspective, they were each right, but when they switched places and saw it from the other’s perspective, they could see a more complete picture of the truth. Neither was completely right or completely wrong.
In our post-modern society, we each declare that we have our own truth. But what is truth? According to the readily available Dictionary.com, truth is:
1. the true or actual state of a matter:
2. conformity with fact or reality; verity:
3. a verified or indisputable face, proposition, principle, or the like:
If two viewpoints disagree, there really can be one of two logical situations:
1. One of the positions is the truth, and the other is not, or
2. Both positions are false to a greater or lesser degree.
It is not possible for both viewpoints to be the truth. And yet today, we find the clamoring often arrives at a point of throwing derogatory or defamatory language at one another, often degenerating into name-calling and labeling. People seem to have forgotten to listen and are only interested in proclaiming their truth.
In the Book of James we read some wise counsel.
James 1:19–20 (NKJV)
So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
In a corporate training class I attended, and then later taught, they taught a really unique perspective. Each of us comes to our values and beliefs through our upbringing, experiences, history, and personality. They are valid to us. If we come to a discussion, accepting that the other person’s view is valid for them, and then seek to learn why there is a difference, we come to a closer place of seeing both sides of the tablet; seeing a more complete view of truth.
Instead of entering into a difference of ideas intent on proclaiming our truth, doesn’t it make more sense that all will be enriched if we enter into the discussion asking questions and seeking to understand. We do not have to agree with one another, or even accept or affirm truth in the other’s views, but at a fundamental level, aren’t we each simply asking for the other to try to see our side of the tablet?
I like your biblical thinking! God bless
Eric, Thanks for your comment. I am glad you enjoyed the thoughts.
Im obliged for the article. Really thank you! Fantastic. Jennilee Shermy Taub
Thanks Jennilee. Hopefully, I’ll have time to put more thoughts together.
This design is spectacular! You obviously know how to keep a reader amused. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Wonderful job. I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool! Angel Mccorison
Angel, thank you. I am a simple person and simply strive to express what the Lord expresses to me. Be blessed.
Thanks for the article.Really looking forward to read more. Will read on… Shelby Sood
Thank. We’ll put something up soon.
Nice message. I discover something much more tough on various blogs daily. It will certainly constantly be boosting to review material from various other authors and exercise a something from their shop. I?d prefer to use some with the material on my blog site whether you don?t mind. Natually I?ll offer you a link on your web blog. Thanks for sharing. Kendrick Derossett
Hello. Great job. I did not imagine this. This is a fantastic story. Thanks! Cori Depratt
I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this
post was good. I do not know who you are but definitely you are going to a famous blogger if you aren’t
already 😉 Cheers!
Thank you for your kind words. I will likely write some more, but I only want to write if there is something pertinent to say.
whoah this weblog is wonderful i like studying your posts.
Keep up the good work! You already know, a lot of people are searching around for this info, you
can help them greatly.
Hi this is kinda of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use
WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with
HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so I
wanted to get guidance from someone with experience.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Feel free to visit my website – CBD for dogs
I have found that using the Elementor editor has allowed me to add some interesting features without a lot of trouble. You may find it useful.
I could not resist commenting. Exceptionally well written!
Very good blog you have here but I was curious about if you knew of any community
forums that cover the same topics discussed here? I’d really
like to be a part of online community where I can get feed-back from
other knowledgeable people that share the same interest.
If you have any recommendations, please let me know.
Thanks!
Howdy! I know this is kinda off topic however , I’d figured I’d
ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest authoring a blog post or vice-versa?
My website addresses a lot of the same subjects as yours and I feel
we could greatly benefit from each other. If you’re interested feel
free to send me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you!
Wonderful blog by the way!
terrific post
excellent post, i like it
Great article! We will be linking to this great content on our
website. Keep up the good writing.
I like the valuable information you provide in your articles.
I’ll bookmark your blog and check again here regularly. I’m quite certain I will learn lots of new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!
I used to be able to find good info from your articles.
I couldn’t resist commenting. Exceptionally well written!
Great delivery. Solid arguments. Keep up the good effort.
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this write-up and also the reet of the site is really good.
You can certainly see your enthusiasm within the work you write. The sector hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe.
At all times go after your heart.
Hey I am so thrilled I found your weblog, I really found you by mistake, while I was researching on Yahoo for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to say kudos for a tremendous post and a all round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read it all at the minute but I have book-marked it and also added in your RSS feeds, so when I
have time I will be back to read a great deal more, Please do keep up the fantastic work.
It is ruly a great and useful piece of info. I’m glad that you shared thiks useful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back down the road.
All the best
I really like reading a post that will make men and women think. Also, many thanks for allowing me to comment!
Great post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am inspired! Extremely helpful information particularly the last
part 🙂 I maintain such info a lot. I used to be seeking this certain info for a long time.
Thank you and good luck.
Heya i am for the first time here. I found this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out much.I hope to give something back and help others like you said.
Please let me know iif you’re looking for a article author
for your blog. You have sme really good posts and I feel I would be a good asset.
If you ever wawnt to take some of the load off, I’d
absolutely love to write some articles for your blog in exchange
for a lionk back to mine. Please send mme an e-mail if interested.
Kudos!
Check out my web blog ege son dakika
Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this site. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s challenging to get that “perfect balance” between superb usability and appearance. I must say that you’ve done a great job with this. Also, the blog loads very fast for me on Safari. Outstanding Blog!
Pretty! This has been ann extremely wonderful post. Thank you for providing this information.
Helpful information. Fortunate me I discovered your website by chance, and I am stunned why this twist of fate didn’t came about in advance!
I bookmarked it.
Thanks on your marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading it, you are a great author.I will be sure to bookmark your blog and may come back laer on. I want to encourage you continue your great posts, have a nice morning!
It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely donate to this fantastic blog!I guess for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.I look forward to new updates and will share this website with my
Facebook group. Talk soon!
With having so much content do you ever run into any issues of plagiarism or copyright violation? My blog has a lot of exclusive content I’ve either written myself or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my authorization. Do you know any techniques to help prevent content
from being ripped off? I’d certainly appreciate it.
Hello there! This post couldn’t be written any better!Reading this ost reminds me of my previousroom mate! He always kpt talking about this.
I will forward this article to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
Useful information. Fortunate for me I found your web site by chance, and I am surprised why this accident didn’t tok place earlier! I bookmarked it.
Very rapidly this web page will be famous among all blog people, due to it’s pleasant articles.
Greetings! Very useful advice within this article!
It’s the little changes that produce thhe greatest changes.
Many thanks for sharing!
Spot on with this write-up, I really feel this web site needs a
great deal more attention. I’ll probably be retuurning to read more, thanks ffor the advice!
Thanks for your marvelous posting! I really enjoyed reading it, you may be a great author.I will be sure to bookmark your blog and will eventually come back later on. I want to
encourage you to continue your great posts, have a nice evening!
My partner and I stumbled over here different
web page and thought I may as well check things out. I like what I see so i am just following you.
Look forward to looking over your web page for a second time.
Hi! I could have sworn I’ve visited this web site before but after looking at some of the articles I realized it’s new to me.
Anyhow, I’m certainly delighted I discovered it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back regularly!
I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your site. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A few of my blog audience have complained about my site not working correctly in Explorer but loos great in Safari.
Do you have any ideas to help fix this issue?
I’m really impressed with yopur writing skils as welll as with the layout on your weblog.
Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself?
Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like
ths one nowadays.
Touche. Great arguments. Keep up the good work.
I want to to thank you for this good read!! I absolutely loved every little bit of it. I’ve got you book-marked to look at new things you post…
Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely glad I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back often!
Hey! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to give it a look. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Fantastic blog and amazing design.