“What Is Truth?” ~ Pontius Pilate

“The sun rises in the East and sets in the West!”

No it don’t.

“The atom is the smallest particle of matter we can find!”

No it’s not.

“All rivers flow south!”

No they don’t.

“But it was ever thus, all through my life: whenever I have diverged from custom and principle and uttered a truth, the rule has been that the hearer hadn’t strength of mind enough to believe it.”
– Autobiography of Mark Twain

When I was teenager I learned that, when caught sneaking back into the house in the wee hours, or was confronted the next day by my dad asking, “Where were you and what were you up to?” it served me well to tell the truth but to make it SOUND… like a lie.

He expected me to lie.

I didn’t want to have to remember two stories, so I just used story telling to keep my facts straight, and voice inflection to make it sound like an outlandish lie, embellishing a bit here and a tad there.

Remember… he was expecting a lie.

I gave my audience what they wanted.

Funny thing is… he never gave me hell for the sneaking out part… I only caught hell if I had been fighting; or escorted home by the cops; and not because he thought that was bad for me, but because of the fact he worked as an interpreter for them and was embarrassed I got caught and had to be escorted home.

Telling those truths freed me from having to worry about any follow up questions that may pop up. Or if he was talking to friends of mine they would say, “It wasn’t as crazy as he made it sound.”

Which only helped to reinforce my version in his mind… because they were my friends, of course they would try to cover for me, right? He thought so too.

With that said, I have to admit, I haven’t always been truthful.

Just ask those cops who hauled me in.

You have the right to remain silent… or… DENY! DENY! DENY!

“Honest officer it was like that when I found it.”

There are lies to save your skin; lies to save you from a speeding ticket; lies in office meetings; lies that cover up a secret life; the meaning of words are twisted so that the word itself is used as a lie; lies to keep a peaceful marriage;

lies to protect a friends feelings; lies to shelter a child from even more trauma.

“There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics!” ~ Mark Twain

The question then still remains… “What is truth?” (put any kind of voice inflection you want on that one)

Can we agree on a definition first?

Definition of truth

1a(1) : the body of real things, events, and facts : actuality

(2) : the state of being the case : fact

(3) often capitalized : a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality

b : a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true truths of thermodynamics

~ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/truth

I like the reality part.

The reality is… the earth spins and the sun stays still. With the sun neither rising nor setting.

The reality is… a quark is found inside an atom, actually it’s found inside, or makes up the neutron and proton of an atom.

And some pretty big rivers run north, like de-nial, I mean The Nile. Yeah, the one in Egypt.

I like that part… reality.

Instead of saying, “The truth is.”

Try using, “The reality is…”

“The reality is… rivers, around the globe can flow in any number of directions.”

“The reality is… science thought the atom was the building block of all matter. That is until they discovered smaller neutrons and protons. And lo and behold, the more they looked at it, we now know what a quark is!”

And the sun… if Hemingway would have had, as a title, “The Earth also Turns”, instead of “The Sun Also Rises” even though it doesn’t… well… he wouldn’t have been Hemingway.

³¹ “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ~ Jesus, in John 8:31-32

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8%3A31-32&version=NIV

To “know” the truth…

We think we want to know it. Sometimes even chasing after it, thinking it will release us from our current way of thinking.

But usually we run into it like a heavy glass door… BAM!

Still wakes you up; still shows you the way; it may hurt; but you are set free from that thought process… even if only for a moment.

The reality is… I’ve seen it… men are zombied out from participating in reality.

Existing… instead of living.

Habitually… disengaged.

Showing up… (for work) but are not present.

Mentally… in a constant state of unresolved hopelessness and anger.

All because we fall for the lies.

One big one being, “Things will never change, I’m stuck here.”

As an EMERGING MAN or woman, yourself, (I’ve picked up a few female readers recently)… have you identified in yourself what you consider to be the truth, or perceived reality, of your current situation?

Are you able to ENCOURAGE, EQUIP & ENGAGE… with yourself?

If so, is it spilling over into your circle of influence?

WHOA! Watch that door!

“Positivity w/ Work Gloves” requires a little work. And a little honesty.

Not gonna lie… I’ve never seen the Nile, an atom; or the sun from outer space for that matter… I’ll just have to take your word for it.