Rector's letter for June Fowey News
(This letter was omitted from the June edition so published instead in July)
Dear Friends
“Recollections mary vary.”
There is a fundamental problem with “my truth” being asserted as the truth, as if a subjective interpretation of an event carries the weight of objective accuracy and fact. When a personal viewpoint appears to matter more than how things actually are and how someone feels about the world counts for more than how the world actually is, when narcissistic ‘alternative facts’ have triumphed over indisputable facts - what then of real, tangible, measurable truth; the provable stuff of life? What then of truth and its opposite - lies?
Of course, we all lie: At work (over hours, lunch breaks and who really broke the copier). We lie to the taxman (‘necessary expenses’), we lie to the doctor (‘just a couple of glasses a week’) and to the traffic police (‘What speed limit?’). People lie in politics, in sport, in the media. We’ve become expert – and no one’s surprised anymore. We leave out part of the story - we’re economical with the truth. We exaggerate and add to the story - embellishing the truth. We tell the story in a way that makes us look good - we spin the truth. But it is all less than the truth. And that is a lie.
Some years ago a study was done into lying. The research included people wearing a microphone which recorded everything they said. It was found that, on average, we lie every 8 minutes. Or roughly 44,000 times a year. Sometimes it is to try to impress someone, to make yourself look good. Sometimes we lie because we say we don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings, but actually that is just wanting them to think well of us. Sometimes it because we don’t want to admit to doing or being wrong. However, our use and abuse of truth has a devastating affect on others. Lies are not simply wrong; they hurt people.
In our society, we treat words far too lightly. We need to be truthful in what we say for the health of our society, for our relationships and for ourselves. To collude with lies, even if well meant, may be the temporary expediency of niceness. It may appear to be thoughtful, generous and affirming. But it is a long term damaging dis-service. Whereas the unvarnished truth, however unpalatable, is both loving and kind. I might like my dentist if he tells me my teeth are fine, and I can go on eating lots of chocolate. But if he knows that is not the truth, he is not being friendly. My dentist isn’t being cruel when he tells me I have a rotten cavity, and that it needs to be fixed. He doesn’t say it to ruin my day, or because he enjoys inflicting pain. He’s actually being kind. It is not cruel but loving.
The Bible repeatedly compares truth and falsehood with light and darkness. To face the truth is like moving from darkness to sunlight. Truth matters and the gospel accounts record how truth matters to Jesus and that is a beautiful thing. When we come to him there is no two-faced hypocrisy. There is no deceit. There is no spin. There is no fake news. He is full of grace and truth. He speaks truth. He is the way, the truth & the life. And he offers his beauty and perfection and flawlessness to us. Where we continually fall short and fail, he is true. And his advice is simply “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.” No terminological inexactitude. No strategic misrepresentation. No reality augmentation. Just ‘yes’ or ‘no’. You know where you are. There is no confusion. No ambiguity. No fine print. Just trust.
with every blessing
Philip