Lenten Reflections: Truth?

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”  “What is truth?” retorted Pilate."

John 18:37-38  

"What is truth?" Our culture is in desperate search for truth, but as with Pilate, most of us don't stick around long enough to hear the answer. 

Truth is truth. And from God's perspective, truth remains as it always has been; absolute. Black and white. 

Unfortunately, from our perspective, truth is not always that simple. We process our world through a lens that often reflects shades of grey. What God intends as truth becomes interpreted as relative. We do the best we can with what we have, who we are, where we've been and where we're going, but truth is usually interpreted through our own personal world view. 

The problem that we encounter is when we choose to ignore truth. Truth must be identified, acknowledged, reflected upon and even wrestled with. We can dissect truth. We interpret truth. We can embrace truth. We can manipulate truth. But ignoring truth only clouds the lens through which we see the world around us.     

"What is truth?"  

"Who cares?"

Truth sometimes hurts. The truth is often frightening. Truth convicts. Truth reveals.

Truth is truth. Reality is often a lie.

Lent is a quest for truth; not necessarily the truth of others, or the world around us, but the truth of ourselves. Ironically, the truth that lies within ourselves will reveal external truth as well. When we come to face the truth of who we really are, we see others as they are as well. That can be ugly and beautiful at the same time. Dark and light in concert with each other. The path of truth often splinters off into various trails, but as we follow "the way and the truth and the life", we find that our journey is more straightforward than we realize. 

Lord, we seek truth. Your truth. But as we walk through this world, we realize that things are not always that simple. We make mistakes, we take the wrong path, and sometimes we choose the lie rather than truth. As we follow You, Lord, enable us to see Your truth as clear as we can. We know that our perception is limited, but with You, there is no limit. Amen