What About Absolute Truth?

What do you know that is absolutely true?

Careful -- how can you be sure?

I naturally believe some things absolutely -- but does that mean that they are absolutely true? I'm not advocating a kind of philosophical relativism here. I do not rule out the possibility of absolute truths. What I have discovered is very often we cling to what we believe to be true only to discover later that it was not true at all.

Why do we do it?

There is a comfort, a satisfaction, a security in standing by what we believe. It can even be healthy. But, it can also get in the way of listening. When my mind is totally made-up it makes it much harder to listen openly to someone else, to listen with curiosity. And, listening without curiosity is not listening at all -- it becomes a maneuver to express our own truth (as flawed as it may be, it seems perfect to us.)

I wish that truth was absolute. I wish that truth was universal. All too often, like ethics, it's situational. What delivers the most good and produces the least harm? Life can't always be simplified to an equation, but it does always include the math. When a truth consistently does more harm than good I question its degree of truth.

Stay curious, my friend. Truly listen. While few truths are absolute, it's easy to believe that ours are. What if they are not?

-- Doug Smith

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