Traversing the Testing Grounds of Truth

Socialization builds character.  It’s the testing grounds of the discoveries made in solitude.  What we learn about ourselves individually must go through the collective conscious to see if it proves durable.  If it stands the test, it was a genuine discovery.  If it doesn’t, there are deeper truths to be discovered.  Your character is the manifestation of truths verified.

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1

Note that this verse tells us to test the spirits, not for the tests to come to us via circumstance.  It’s a proactive command.  I believe this verse applies to more than just spirituality.  It’s a great approach to authenticate any truth.  Truth is enduring.  A truth will stand the tests you give it.  Truth never fails.  A truth that fails the test is no truth at all.  Beliefs lost during testing weren’t that authentic in the first place.  If a truth does fail the test, a greater truth will be revealed.  We should not fear the testing of our truths, as it’s all a process of coming to know our greater selves.  So test everything.

I have a question for you:  are we ever finished working on ourselves?  You can think about this question for a long time.  Or not.  If we are and we’ve reached our peak there’s only one direction to go:  down.  My grandpa used to say that a growing church is a healthy church, but a still church is a dying church.  This applies to our own sanctification, to our individual progression.  In our lives we can choose to either evolve or gradually decline to our end. 

You must test your faith.  You may fear to test what you believe is true.  What if it fails the test?  What if all my beliefs fall apart?  By testing faith you may lose it.  It’s the fear that the ego will lose its validity.  If your truth falls, your identity is going to be damaged to some extent, depending on the truth you were testing.  It sure is scary!  I certainty fear losing what I’ve come to know as the deeper truths about myself.  It’s an ego check. But isn’t it better to come to an authentic truth than hold on to one that’s illusionary and of majority approval?  

“There is no fear in love.  But perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18-19

There is no salvation in conformity.  To be true to yourself in the midst of conventionality is to be a pearl in the vast ocean.  It’s better to reject an idea after challenging it than it is to accept it on blind ignorance.  Don’t be a conformist.  Question everything.  Salvation is not anybody’s duty but your own. 

 

As I continue to write this blog I’m constantly debating with myself whether I should write to get as many people to agree with me as I can.  In the world of the Internet it’s aspiring to get as many followers as possible.  I love when people agree with me.  We all do!  But then I realized if I had this mindset I would be doing the exact opposite of what I preach.  I would be a hypocrite, and to be a hypocrite is a low quality of representation.  I do try to find commonalities at the deepest levels, as we’re all part of the same human species and I believe we all have the same root consciousness.  But there will be those who disagree with even that proclamation.  I will respect their commonality as a truth-seeker.  We’re all seekers of truth.  

As I’ve tested my truths over and over again the deceptive ones have been revealed and tossed, while the profounder ones have been admitted and consecrated.  It has empowered my life substantially, and encourages me to still dig deeper into the light that's within.

Question your beliefs.  Question your authorities.  Question your truths.  Only then will you discover those which are more genuine.

Some Favorite Quotes on Truth

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Steve Jobs

Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.

Mahatma Gandhi

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

George Orwell

If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.

C. S. Lewis

The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.

John F. Kennedy

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

Arthur Schopenhauer

A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.

Oscar Wilde

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

Winston Churchill

You never find yourself until you face the truth.

Pearl Bailey

Never assume the obvious is true.

William Safire

The first reaction to truth is hatred.

Tertullian