How many times have you believed something to be true for a very, very long time, only to find out that what you thought you knew to be true might not be true at all?
Sounds like I’m setting you up for a trick question, doesn’t it? I’m not. And what does this have to do with God?
There’s a lot of talk about truth being relative these days. First, I guess it helps to make sure we’re on the same page as to what constitutes true or truth. The #1 dictionary definition of true is “in accordance with fact or reality”, then #2 says “accurate or exact.”
Truth cannot be relative if it’s accurate or exact or in accordance with fact. But the real trick is how to get to the clear, unvarnished, unequivocal facts or accuracy of something. Then there is that little matter of true being defined as in accordance with reality. So that leaves open a debate for whether or not your reality and my reality are in sync.
Repeating what someone told you about something doesn’t constitute truth. What I think is the truth, simply because someone told me it was, may not be the truth at all. But that doesn’t make the truth relative. It makes me mistaken. Remember the old game we played as a kid called “Telephone”?
People all over the world, both good and evil people, want to “sell” their opinions or world view as truth. They have learned techniques for controlling the thoughts of massive numbers of people so they can convince them they believe “the truth.” Too few people just accept what they are told and never even question whether or not the information makes any rational sense. They also, sometimes willfully, ignore inconsistencies with that information. I don’t understand how a whole culture who is addicted to crime shows like CSI can be so laissez-faire about questioning things that profoundly affect their day-to-day lives. But that’s a topic for another post I’ll probably never write here.
Let’s talk about an example. Religion is a good one (hence, God). Mind you, I’m not trying to alter or sway or question your beliefs on this. I’m just pointing out how we usually come to believe what we do, and how we may rethink what we believe about it when we are presented with new, different information.
Most people develop religious beliefs based on what they are taught. This is usually done generationally, passed down from our families. The Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of religion is a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices. In most cultures, religion is related to God(s) or the supernatural. Being raised in a Christian religion as I was, in a country primarily Christian, growing up I shared religious experience and upbringing with the majority of people. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I understood not all people recognized the same God I did. I simply had no experience, at all, with anyone or anything not Christian. There was no class in school that taught other religions. We heard about other gods through mythology, but that was ancient history.
Today, of course, other religions are in the news a lot so there’s a greater awareness there are beliefs out there different from ours. But it’s interesting to note that most of what we know about those other beliefs are shaped by what is reported to us in, of all places, the news. And since we know main stream and cable media reports only out of the ordinary occurrences (hence…news) most of what we hear about religion from media is negative. There’s no educational aspect of news in today’s world. In fact, when we hear about religion in news we are inclined to view it all negatively, even Christian religion. No one reports news about religion in an effort to convert anyone.
As creatures of habit, there’s little reason to seek out or study other religions. So, most people spend their entire existence believing that the religion they are most aware of is truth.
I find studying other religions is fascinating. Learning what other people believe and think about God is interesting and, on many levels, often makes a lot of sense. Heck, I know from being a Christian all my life that there’s a lot of disagreement in Christianity about what to believe. Christians are taught we must just take some things on faith, that there is no “natural” explanation. But in other religions there are explanations for some of the things I’ve questioned in Christianity. Hearing about folks coming back from Near Death Experiences is remarkable. I enjoy being able to take it all in and draw my own conclusions.
My point in this post is that (as a Christian, I hope God doesn’t strike me dead for saying this), there’s no way to discern absolute truth about God and religion. Everything we believe is taught to us, experiential, and (as my very insightful sister-in-law and best friend, Lynn, says) must resonate deep in our being. Perhaps that’s really how we know truth when we finally get to it…it resonates deep in our being.
What I do know for sure is that there is a God. And that is comforting, reassuring, and resonates with me.
P.S. My surgery went well but longer than expected yesterday. I’m home recovering, sore, but glad it’s behind me.
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