To Have the Truth

This week's quotation is from Liji, also known as The Book of Rites, one of the five classics of the traditional Confucian canon. It reads, "To have the truth is the way of heaven, to seek is the way of man."

I'm not sure I agree... I'm not convinced that it is possible for anyone to "have the truth", if having the truth means being 100% certain that what we believe is right and true at all times. As I wrote back in February, "Truth (somewhat ironically) is a slippery word, with various shades of meaning."

I know that for the adherents of some religious / faith traditions, it is an essential part of being a Christian / Muslim / whatever, to accept certain truths as absolute. For example, most Christians believe that Jesus is the Divine Son of God, second Person of the Trinity, whose death on the cross brought humankind back into right relationship with God the Father. They would argue that if someone doesn't believe that, they cannot call themselves a Christian. If you "have" that truth, you are a Christian, if you don't, you're not. Simple as that. 

Whereas, for people like Unitarians, truth has a far more nebulous quality. We seek it, for sure, but, as I wrote in February, "we are open to discovering new truths, which may (indeed, should) influence our beliefs and behaviour... Our whole lives are a quest for truth, which we must uncover / discover step by step."

If this is the "way of man", then I am happy to follow it. It is more difficult than resting on "inalienable" truths, but I believe it can be far more rewarding. It means being "open to new Light", as the Quakers would say: new truths which can illuminate our lives and change them for the better. The tricky part is letting go of long-held "truths" which we come to understand are false, in the light of new knowledge and experiences. It takes a certain amount of spiritual gumption to do this, and to keep on doing it, over and over again. Yet if we are to grow into our best selves, I believe it is necessary.