Starlight; a vast distance; (...and how exactly was I made?). Headlamps, sleeping bags, and strong coffee. Good gear and better pro. Food, water, and well-made boots. Staying warm, dry, and alive. Making fires; wind and rain; snow. Fog, with sunlight coming through it. Snowshoes; skins and skis. Hiking or climbing; descending.
More food, and water; cars and trucks; hitch-hiking and bivouacs. The highs and lows of fear; elation. Denial and strength; pain. Reality.
The sweet smell of dry pine needles; of rock warmed by the sun, the wind fresh with mountain air. The sudden roar of a raging river; the lure of a hidden, gurgling brook. These things are real; they are true.
Once, somewhere in Montana while rappelling off a climb in the dark, I stacked up mentally for a few moments at one of the belays. I had to search for truth to continue.
I tired quickly of hearing the worn out storylines, my own included, with such predictable outcomes and their ubiquitous lies. Life is not always beautiful (although we can help make it more so); reality should be our quest; truth our goal.
Before we are even aware of ourselves, we begin learning. Our reality is the things we hear and see and experience. As a child, one of the first lessons we encounter is the concept of right and wrong; hopefully, the ones teaching are striving to be accurate. And although some things are of a more serious nature than others, the truth always matters in the end.
In school, whether elementary or university. The workplace, whether a carpenter or judge. In life, whether a leader or follower. Encompassing everything in our lives is a constant, inherent need to try and be as accurate as possible. To gain knowledge so we can hear and find and make and know truth. To do whatever it is we're doing the best way possible; to do it well.
The cord slips easily through my hands, like time from a clock. We are old friends, this rope and I. It's saved my life more than once; more truth.
Sometime in the spring of AD 30, a Man was asked, "What is truth?". When I read the story - it's right there in the 18th chapter of the gospel of John - I get the sense Pilate was asking rather, "How can one know truth?"; or, "What defines truth?". Ironic he was asking personified truth that question. Earlier, in John 14, Jesus boldly claims, "I am the way, the truth, and the life...". Just prior to and prompting Pilates' question, Jesus states "...and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."
An honest search for truth is a lifelong endeavor. (to be continued)
Note: this study rests on the established existence, in my heart, of the creator God, and his saving Son. I feel so compelled to write about this search for truth in my life. And while certainly no scientist, I want to establish that provable truths exist, things we can and should verify; we must be aware of our surroundings.
With these truths, we can proceed into those surroundings and have proper discussions that follow the facts, the truth, wherever it leads.
The sweet smell of dry pine needles; of rock warmed by the sun, the wind fresh with mountain air. The sudden roar of a raging river; the lure of a hidden, gurgling brook. These things are real; they are true.
Once, somewhere in Montana while rappelling off a climb in the dark, I stacked up mentally for a few moments at one of the belays. I had to search for truth to continue.
I tired quickly of hearing the worn out storylines, my own included, with such predictable outcomes and their ubiquitous lies. Life is not always beautiful (although we can help make it more so); reality should be our quest; truth our goal.
Before we are even aware of ourselves, we begin learning. Our reality is the things we hear and see and experience. As a child, one of the first lessons we encounter is the concept of right and wrong; hopefully, the ones teaching are striving to be accurate. And although some things are of a more serious nature than others, the truth always matters in the end.
In school, whether elementary or university. The workplace, whether a carpenter or judge. In life, whether a leader or follower. Encompassing everything in our lives is a constant, inherent need to try and be as accurate as possible. To gain knowledge so we can hear and find and make and know truth. To do whatever it is we're doing the best way possible; to do it well.
The cord slips easily through my hands, like time from a clock. We are old friends, this rope and I. It's saved my life more than once; more truth.
Sometime in the spring of AD 30, a Man was asked, "What is truth?". When I read the story - it's right there in the 18th chapter of the gospel of John - I get the sense Pilate was asking rather, "How can one know truth?"; or, "What defines truth?". Ironic he was asking personified truth that question. Earlier, in John 14, Jesus boldly claims, "I am the way, the truth, and the life...". Just prior to and prompting Pilates' question, Jesus states "...and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."
An honest search for truth is a lifelong endeavor. (to be continued)
Note: this study rests on the established existence, in my heart, of the creator God, and his saving Son. I feel so compelled to write about this search for truth in my life. And while certainly no scientist, I want to establish that provable truths exist, things we can and should verify; we must be aware of our surroundings.
With these truths, we can proceed into those surroundings and have proper discussions that follow the facts, the truth, wherever it leads.
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