Truth

What do you do with the truth?  Do you play it safe; looking for the angle that will let everyone win?  Is getting aggressive the answer?  Or is there something shaping the question one often ignores?
 
It is interesting to observe how people use truth.  The obvious examples are politicians and reporters, and yet their behavior for the most part merely mirrors the reaction of anyone involved.  As I observe corporate life, people in relationships, and even best friends, it is as if truth is a powerful weapon to be exploited and enjoyed.  Facts support the premise of truth’s power.  Knowledge is powerful, knowledge which is truthful even more so.  Those who hold it often find themselves consumed by the lust of using it to an advantage.  It is as if the attraction of success and control as the tools to winning the game are incredibly powerful on their own.
 
Books, movies, and life itself have played out this paradigm.  From man’s temptation share knowledge with Divinity, to Tolkien’s story and subsequent movie, and though expose and exploitation, we live with examples of truth’s power and attraction.  The question remains; what do we do with truth?
 
Let me suggest an alternative to the common view.  First, not all truth is true truth.  I know this may sound odd, but some truth is simply evil revealed.  True truth, truth straight from Divinity, is different.  One has power, the other gives power.  Second, truth in itself isn’t the answer to anything.  What one does with it makes the difference.  Third, truth when combined with compassionate love is the ultimate power.
 
Some suggest Jesus had his own agenda.  His response was direct; “I'm not making any of this up on my own.  The Father who sent me gave me orders, told me what to say and how to say it.”  (John 12.49) 
 
Truth is all around us – in the beauty of a child’s smile, the splatter of a rain drop, and in our relationships.  The question is – will we combine beauty with compassion to realize what life can be?