September 21, 2011
Senior Artist
An elderly man in our community thought a certain sidewalk curb was a
hazard to drivers. Rather than waiting for the city work crews to respond to
his concerns he took matters into his own hands and spray painted white XX’s
and arrows on the curb. At first blush there is some humor in seeing an older
gent taking matters into his own hands. However on another level, his actions
are purely and simply a defacing of public property…graffiti. Had this tagging
been done by a teenager we’d have felt indignation, condemnation and at the
very least expected him to do community service and remove his handiwork. In
the church we too have a tendency to think that our age should somehow give us a
pass if we don’t want to follow established standards. “You,
therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at
whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you
who pass judgment do the same things.” (Ro
2:1 NIV)
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----In an email conversation with a friend, our topics have led to versions of the truth. Any mention of a possibility there is more than one version of truth gets the hackles of most Christians up high. But a few simple thoughts can calm and comb these hackles back into place. The human condition is made of as many versions of truth as there are and have been humans alive. It is what Paul addressed by saying each man should be convinced in his own mind; it is why we must look to the interests of others also. For another topic another day, it is of His forgiveness and forbearance.
-----Nobody can get up in the morning and function without some amount of knowledge. The more concrete are the things we do the more similar is our knowledge about doing them. Driving to work, for example, involves the identical experience with steering wheels, throttle and break pedals, right on down to car doors and passenger seats. Unless you ride a motorcycle. Now going to work isn’t driving. It is riding. That is quite different. And although the throttle and break are still in the experience, one is a twist on the handlebar while the other is split between a foot pedal and two finger levers.
-----The truths we know come only through experiences, whether firsthand or by communication. Nobody experiences the same things exactly. So differences may be only in degree, but they are indeed differences. A lobby full of people may witness a bank robbery. But every person will have viewed it from a different angle while paying attention to different details. The information they took in will generate different thoughts and feelings which will compose for them different truths. Since these are all we can know, we must use the truth we have until we get a better one. This is how truth exists in different versions. And the more abstract our experiences are, the greater will be the variances between our truths.
-----The fact is, there is only one version of the technical truth. That is God’s version. No man knows it. What each person knows is his own version of phenomenal truth, capable of serving the structure, meaning, and purpose needed for his life. The more he searches to coordinate his version of phenomenal truth with God’s technical truth, the better the structures, meanings, and purposes in his life will benefit himself, others, and God. But his own version of truth will never exactly match God’s, if only because God’s will always entail more detail.
-----Now, this old man knows his version of truth about that curb. Is it shaped into a closer coincidence with God’s version, or is it more the shape of a kooky, old codger? Maybe there is only one person in this entire world who knows. Someone in a particularly perilous split-second visually struck by white XX’s and arrows on a curb might now live rather than having died in an accident at an unpainted curb. Maybe nobody knows except this yet living soul and God who only together experienced that split-second effected by an old codger‘s version of the truth. We can‘t tell what details of our versions of truth fully coincide with those of God‘s. We especially can’t tell about the details of other’s versions. Therefore, God’s Holy Spirit calls us to humility, consideration, and the showing of honor. For these attitudes better coordinate all our varieties of truths.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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