April 22, 2019

Weekly Reflection – TRUTH (John 8:31-36)

Truth: Early this morning, a series of free-flowing thoughts rolled into my consciousness like waves crashing upon the shores of a Pacific island.  They rolled in continuously, one after the other.  They were not necessarily connected, but they had a common theme.  They smelled the same.  Some were just wavelets.  Others were thunderous.  Here is how it came to me as I contemplated John 8:31-36.

Truth? Pilate asked, “What is Truth?” Jesus had just said his Father is “true.” He said that He (Jesus) is the “Way the Truth and the Life.” He prophesied, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

But freedom from what I wondered? From my bondage to sin? Of course. And perhaps freedom from all that is false? If something is false, can it be true? Can it …be?

A famous writer once said something similar to this: “Nothing that is true can be threatened.” Perhaps nothing that is untrue exists. Ah-ha! Freedom from the FEAR of the untrue. That must be it.

I see a crack in the cosmos through which a bright ray of truth is beaming. The darkness below is increasingly threatened by this “true” light. And I feel my chains of fear dropping away one by one. Rattling and clanging, they go. In their place comes joy, joy at perhaps finally “getting it.” It is like viewing an intricate work of art that takes time for the mind to “see.” One eventually beings to grasp what is there, what is layered below that simplistic first impression. And that “really there,” that “true” is so much more!

Truth?  Pilate asked, “What is truth?” Jesus had just said his Father is “true.” He said that He (Jesus) is the “Way the Truth and the Life.” He prophesied, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 

But freedom from what I wondered?  From my bondage to sin?  Of course.  And perhaps freedom from all that is false?  If something is false, can it be true?  Can it be? 

A famous writer once said something similar to this: Nothing that is true can be threatened.  Perhaps nothing that is untrue exists.  Ah-ha!  Freedom from the FEAR of the untrue.  That must be it.

I see a crack in the cosmos through which a bright ray of truth is beaming.  The darkness below is increasingly threatened by this “true” light.  And I feel my chains of fear dropping away one by one.  Rattling and clanging, they go.  In their place comes joy, joy at perhaps finally “getting it.” It is like viewing an intricate work of art that takes time for the mind to “see.” One eventually beings to grasp what is there, what is layered below that simplistic first impression.  And that “really there,” that “true” is so much more!

Can the present be perfect in Christ?  

Blessings and peace,
Chaplain Allen

chaplain@nationsu.edu
chaplainscorner.org

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