"What is Truth?"

Coming from a long line of farmers and ranchers I frequently do my best interior thinking when I'm digging in the dirt, pulling weeds, or, like an hour ago -- engaging in hazmat clean-up in the backyard. Hazmat is an important service to render to the yard when two really big dogs do their thing many times a day, day in and day out. So, in the middle of collecting all of their bio gifts to the rocks, bark, and grass Tahoe kept dropping one or two tennis balls right in the middle of all the, well, bio stuff. I got into the rhythm of alternating throwing balls and picking up his stuff. Shasta sat in her regal pose observing the mayhem and claimed no involvement in any of the activity. I was only out there today because it's going to rain later and some of my neighbors were also out doing their fast yard work. They can only come out between 12 and 2 today because their church's general annual conference is being televised from Salt Lake and they all need to be front and center at their TVs most of this weekend. I think this is the only time of year when they can watch TV on a Sunday, as they will tomorrow. In any case, I wanted to join the neighborhood energy surge so I went out there. And, having not done said hazmat control recently I was out there for a long time! So, believe it or not, the concept/definition/understanding/meaning of truth started filling my head. Yes, I had the truth of the crap I was picking up and I also had the truth of Tahoe insisting I pay more attention to having fun with him. We have the truth this weekend of millions of people around the world, not just my neighbors, watching the LDS conference to receive instruction from their leaders. We have the truth about the disaster in Japan and war in Libya. But, sometimes thinking we have the truth really just means we know a little something about something. We might know about the tsunami in Japan, but we don't really know the truth of what the workers inside the reactors are trying to achieve. We know people are being shot and killed in Libya, but we don't know the full truth of what will really help those in such dire straights. A man in his eighties in our weekly Sunday morning class frequently asks this question, "How can we know for sure that Christianity is true?" Several people are always quick to provide their answers, but he's obviously not satisfied because he keeps asking the same question. As we approach Passion Week later this month the quote from Pilate in two of the Gospels is important. He asks Jesus, "What is truth?" The Gospel writers don't record an answer from Jesus, but that doesn't mean the question shouldn't be asked. Today Tahoe's truth was chasing tennis balls. Mine was picking up solid waste. My neighbors are listening to their leaders with the goal of perfection so God will take them back when they die. The truth of the outcomes in Japan and Libya are still to be revealed. Maybe that's the key -- the truth, in any circumstance, will always make itself known. Truth is a life force that might be held down for a brief period, but it will, I've found, always find it's way to the light, to the air, out into the open. A line from a recent U-2 song re-works Pilate's ancient question into "How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?" Good question. We frequently stand next to things, people, truths, beliefs, lies, stories, and atrocities that we don't see. It takes courage to open our eyes to see the truth standing right next to us. Maybe that's why Jesus didn't answer Pilate - he already knew Pilate didn't have the courage to open his eyes. Do we?