We no longer know what is true and we no longer believe it is possible to find out. Yet we continue to believe – only now we keep our beliefs private. Having lost the answers, we know that asking questions will only lead to conflict that can never be resolved. This desire for beliefs to stay safe and unquestioned has become, not just an individual defense mechanism, but normal practice.
And so our regard and search for truth has been replaced with our love of harmony. Harmony is only possible when conversation remains superficial. In losing permission to think deeply, to generalise and wonder, we have become stupid.
We have also turned to things over which we still have some control. We value 'making the most of life'. We are still realistic enough to acknowledge and love the underdog who makes the best of things despite difficult circumstances. (Particularly when they do so cheerfully – affirming our hope that life can still be enjoyed even when things are shit.) We value our family. We value our community. (That is, the community that we chose to be a part of, the community that is consistent with our truth.) We validate, and sometimes act on, big issues when they are concrete – the environment, the treatment of refugees.
And we do still continue our search for truth, only more narrowly now. We look to the fruits that come out of belief. To lives of integrity, where beliefs are followed through into good action. This is the one gauge of truth we have left.
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3 comments:
I loved the first couple paragraphs. Very poignant and timely.
Thanks Mike.
By the way, I'm really happy to hear things have worked out well with Christine. *Now* I'm more than happy to call her your girlfriend !? :-) God bless, Fi
Well natrualy we would clamp up and no longer trust that person. We do deal out a fair bit of criticism which is why we can be (on average, very slightly) introvert. Americans can seam extrovert, and this has come about because they don't criticise each other face to face as much. The American nerd is happy in his ignorance and doesn't even realise people don't like him. The Australian nerd is very shy, and knows people don't like him because he has been told many times.
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