Monday, July 15, 2013



a dabatable journal entry, not dressing itself for debate

recently, i've realized how what can be true for one person can be untrue for another. not in a way like it's true for one person that they live in africa while it's true for another that they live in europe. i mean, in a way like it's true for one person that gay-marriage absolutely will hurt their version of america while it's true for another that gay-marriage absolutely will help their version of america. and with this perspective, until their truths change, it is impossible to prove to the one person that gay-marriage is good, and it is impossible to prove to the other that gay-marriage is bad. because they each are right, according to their truths. changing their truths is possible, but until any changes have been made, proving them wrong is not. but your truths can change.

and in this way, some realities--real, meaningful realities at that--are very much so subjective to the viewer. you could say that reality is reality whether anyone recognizes it or not. i do believe that solid truth exists and is not dependent upon anyone believing it. something can be true even if no one in the world believes in it, like a round, not flat earth. however, this is not what i am talking about, and that does not apply universally to everything.

what i've also learned is that each person's truths are important and deserve respect; they are sacred, special, and honorable--even if someone else thinks they are wrong or bad. they are not necessarily right or wrong because they aren't defineable. they are so unique to each person that they cannot be judged on any one universal measuring stick. they literally are outside the box of our human definition of right and wrong. i do believe God is there, understands, and is capable of making that judgment. and each person can make that judgment for themselves, if they are capable of the requisite honesty and humility.

your truths are safest and healthiest when you respect and honor them. that means acknowledging their existence, letting them be heard by you, allowing them to affect your choices, and especially being proud of them to others. our truths are like little children, they are healthiest when they are treasured, cared for, and are free of the weight of shame.

2 comments:

My name is Lydia said...

this post reminds me of what my sister said to me the other day about temple marriages. she had attended a wedding reception of a couple married in the temple and there was a lot of talk about being sealed for eternity and how sad it is for everybody else who only marries for life. but my sister told me that she doesn't approve of or appreciate that kind of talk - a marriage ceremony can mean to the participant whatever they want. and it's not polite to talk like that in front of other non-members. aaaanyway... i feel like this is similar to the truth differences people feel of gay marriage hurting or helping america..

L J said...

I believe in absolute truth. Defining truth is to say a certain principle or concept will never change. You can't call it truth if it is true for someone else and not for another. Possibly semantics here. A person can perceive something, and whole heartedly believe something as "true" but it isn't. Because two contradicting concepts can not be true, it is either the one or the other, i.e. God exists or God doesn't exist. Your reality may be how you perceive the world, but ultimately there is an absolute truth. I think God will judge us according to the effort that we put into courageously following what we perceive truth as. Truths don't change, we change. This is where I'm at and I'm open to new ideas.