What is truth? Is it objective, outside of ourselves, constant and measurable? Or is it subjective, entirely within the individual, based on experience, thoughts and feelings? I came across a good essay by Parker Palmer on the subject. Palmer is a writer and educator, well respected in the field of education, with a contemplative perspective. He speaks of the Personal nature of Truth.
On objectivism:
“To say that truth is personal is to affirm the image of truth that lies within each person, regardless of creed or institutional affiliation. Indeed, if truth is personal, then creeds and institutions are only the objectified shells of the truth seeking life that pulses in every human heart. We will find truth not in the fine points of our theologies or in our organizational allegiances but in the quality of our relationships— with each other and with the whole created world.”
On subjectivism:
“The subjectivist theory of knowing, like its objectivist counterpart, finds expression in teaching. There are some classrooms where the private self reigns, where truth is reduced to what that self sees and feels and wants. Such a pedagogy not only neutralizes other selves; it has the same effect on the subjects we study. If the criteria of truth are my perceptions and my needs, what claim can the study of science or history or literature make on my life? This way of teaching and learning is simply one more strategy for avoiding transformation. If private knowledge (no matter how full and rich) is the measure of all things, I can never be drawn into encounter with realities outside myself-especially those that might chastise and correct me. When truth is merely “in here” we lose touch with truth’s transcendence, with the critique of our illusions that comes from participating in a community of troth (good faith, fidelity).”
Reading this prompted some thoughts. For me Truth is not represented in subjectivity or objectivity, but in relationship…it is Personal. It’s not what I believe, or what I experience or feel…it’s who I am, who I am in relation to others, the world and to Christ, and finally all this rests in who Christ is. It is the meaning infused in every moment of life, every beautiful sunrise, every tear of joy or sorrow, every good and evil act, every animal and plant, every landscape and season. It’s not my feelings about or experience of these things that is truth, nor is it my measuring, approving and sorting of these things that is truth. It is the meaning that is these things. (does that make sense?)
For me, being caught up in objectivism or subjectivism is missing a full reality. These views of the world, peripheral and transitory, are easy distractions, for being confronted with Truth ensures we’ll be confronted with ourselves. That’s not always the easiest thing. However, at the center, the axis around which all things peripheral revolve, I find Christ facing me with arms open. The call is to give away control and be present…to accept the embrace. Each moment has meaning, for I see and live and breathe and experience and feel all things from the warmth of this embrace.
So I’m really not concerned with my behavior, though I am in love with God, and I hope my behavior reflects this. I’m really not concerned with whether my beliefs are right, though I have deep reverence for the One who has loved me before I could love myself. I just am who I am, and God is who God is.
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