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 Bear with me. I disdain politics and I have some other concrete
place to go with this.
Our unalienable rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness" outlined in the Declaration of Independence include the
presumptive right to intellectual freedom. To some, heaven on earth
is the rapturous joy found in the pursuit of knowledge and truth.
But truth has an undeniable spiritual element. It resides somewhat
elusively outside of us.
All roads may have led to Rome at one point in history, but the
same cannot be said of the way to truth. It has many switchbacks and
dead-end rabbit trails. Discerning one from the other is no mean
task. Who on earth can tell us if we have found the right road? We
are only looking at the piece of the map we can focus on at any
given time. We don't have the whole perspective.
Ancient Rome and Greece had their share of elitist philosophers,
orators and artists. Truth-seekers, all. There were even satirists
like Horace and Juvenal, who wrote in convoluted Latin syntax only
the most diligent of modern scholars still bother to read. Horace
counseled that writers should wait nine years before seeking to be
published. Perhaps that should translate to 90 today, given the
surfeit of pabulum we endure in this age of punditocracy.
It should be truly humbling and sometimes scary to call oneself a
"writer" -- or "preacher."
Still with me?
As recorded in John's written Gospel account, when Jesus was
brought before Pontius Pilate for judgment, the Roman governor
asked, "What is truth?" (John 18:38). Pilate had been unable to
grasp Jesus' statement, "Everyone who is of the truth hears my
voice." So his question -- "Quid est veritas?" -- was somewhat
rhetorical. For Pilate, it had no answer. For the one scorned as
"King of the Jews," it was most assuredly otherwise.
A few years later, Paul, proclaiming himself as chosen by the
risen Christ from among his most ardent persecutors to carry the
gospel to the Gentile world, would stand on Mars Hill and speak to
the Greeks about their altar "To the Unknown God" in an effort to
enlighten them about this object of their unenlightened worship. He
spoke of nations groping for God when, in fact, he was never far
from them. He reminded the Greeks that even some of their own poets
had written of being God's "offspring." Only a few believed him that
day.
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 Today, few in our still deceptively young nation bother to read
the history of the world, especially regarding the rise and
influence of the church. "We, the people" are, therefore, easily led
astray.
Even those entrusted with being godly truth purveyors and called
to shepherd and inspire their flocks while fulfilling the Christian
Great Commission neglect to take the time to be inspired ("breathed
into") themselves with the living Word of God. How else could some
of these self-appointed pundits so passionately defend the variety
of silly, unorthodox dogmas, or lack thereof, among the current
field of presidential hopefuls? How else could they lump honest and
honorable apologists of truth in with the "un-American" attackers of
religious freedom -- those lowlife, power-loving players of "the
religion card"?
Such are the campaign foibles with which politicos currently spar
like children with rubber swords. They forget how to use the point
of the actual sword.
The farther we travel down the rabbit trails we see as
representing truth -- they all lead to postmodern nothingness -- the
sadder and more elusive becomes our pursuit of happiness.
Who is worthy of leading this nation in the years ahead? Will
truth matter to him or her?
As Thanksgiving gives way to the season in which Christians
celebrate the humble birth of a king more than 2,000 years ago, we
might consider doing more than merely groping our way through the
darkness and instead seek the ever-present Light of the World that
we so easily miss.
[Text from file received from Debbie
Thurman]
Debbie Thurman is an award-winning
columnist and author who writes from Monroe, Va. Her e-mail address
is
debbie@debbiethurman.com.
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