The voice of truth

What is your truth?

I thought this was a challenging but possible question until yesterday. Then I was having a conversation and I mentioned how we can’t say that our view or experience of a person is their true self as others may experience them differently. But whilst I believe that, I do think we each have a truth that is at our very core.

Capital T Truth is (of course) God. I recently used the song ‘Voice of Truth’ in a Mass (by Casting Crowns). ‘We are called to listen and believe the voice of Truth.’ This song also talks about the messages we get from the world and how it is in God that we find our truest self-belief. The voice of Truth offers up hope. Whilst it is a song (a beautiful one) and the words are really a person (or group of persons) view I think this fits with my sense of theology; that the voice of Truth, which is God, is our deepest (infinitely so) well of hope.

Truth is intimately connected with our fullest humanity. So from this, I suggest that our individual truth has to be that which leads us to pursue our best-self. In our human-ness we are flawed and so we fail, and then fail some more. What is important, however, is that we continue to pick ourselves up, acknowledge our failure and set our feet firmly on that path to true humanity.

When we treat people differently – especially when it is to their detriment – that is our failure. Surely, we should have a consistent level of kindness, knowing that we all face our own Goliaths; then from this we can encounter those whose very being fills our hearts with a love for which we have no logical words. Sadly, fellow humans, I think we have let the bar for this level slip. Perhaps that voice of Society which tells us that it is ok to treat people in a vindictive way, after all ‘they wronged you first’, or ‘how dare they treat you like that’ or ‘of course you are right’, has infiltrated all our hearts.

If we are to believe the voice of Truth about what our humanity is, the truth about dignity, then I think we all need a retreat; a time-out from all the other voices to re-set that level and choose respect and kindness for ALL. Without this re-set can we really answer this question of ‘what is my truth?’ We all need to more clearly know our own truth and live it each day and in every encounter.