Correspondance with a Student about Truth, Part 2

 X replied:

Thanks for the handout i think i was thinking reason not truth, however i still have heard that truth is not important and some of these arguements i have heard are from bible professors on our campus!

To which I responded:

Dear X;

Sigh. What do these professors do with all the scripture about truth? Are they all postmodernists who deconstruct scripture into shreds? You must be very confused, listening to them and then listening to me. It is very important to evaluate people's worldviews, (including mine!) because what we say and do comes (in a large part) from what we think. My guess is that these professors want you to accept their ideas. Why do you suppose they do? If it's not because those ideas are true, then what is the reason they teach them? Is it because those ideas give them some sort of power over you? Is it because they wish, for some reason, to make their students able to overpower others? Because postmodernists do not see the world in terms of truth, beauty and goodness, they are left with power plays: oppressors and victims. That's a rather sad way of looking at things.

Postmodernism has been called "hyper-modernism;" modernism taken to its logical conclusion. Like a laxative, postmodernism can be very useful; however, if one makes a diet of it, the result is spiritual and intellectual anorexia. I am fond of fellow premodern C.S. Lewis' observation:

“We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-

turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest

is the most progressive.-- C. S. Lewis

In my opinion, modernism is the wrong road, and postmodernism is taking a further wrong road off the original wrong road. I would be happy to explain further, but that would involve telling you the history of philosophy/ ; )

Blessings,

Beth

Correspondance with a Student about Truth, Part 1

Grading more Ethics papers....and tonight I get this from X, a Christian student:

"The relationship between god and truth is a very interesting one to me. In christianity and jewish belief some people will tell us that there is no room for truth and that we just have to believe. This is because christianity has a lot of unknown things that if we used truth we wouldnt be able to proov and it would creat loop holes in our religion."

Here is my response:

Finally, X, I'm fascinated by your comment that you have heard some people say that there is no room for truth in Christianity and Judaism. Do you think perhaps you have this confused with "reason?" How could a Christian reject "truth" when Jesus himself claims to BE the Way, the TRUTH and the life? What are we believing if it isn't the truth? Go look in a concordance or do a keyword search for "truth" on Bible Gateway and see how important truth is to Jews and Christians!

That is why I think what you might really mean here is "reason," rather than "truth." Typically, the way these discussions go is for people who have swallowed the Modernist "either-or" way of thinking to insist we must choose: EITHER faith OR reason, EITHER religion OR science. Thus, one hand, we get Enlightenment rational humanists, who are suspicious of anything they can't empirically verify (taste, touch, smell, see, or hear). For them, science is the only way to truth. On the other hand, we get Christian "fideists" who are afraid of the mind, and whose anti-intellectualism makes them totally forget Scriptures that demand we put not only our hearts but also our minds in Christ's service.

In this course, I've tried to suggest that we can think outside the modernist/postmodernist box, and be "both-and" people, for whom faith and reason are God-given and avenues to His Truth.

So, here's a "handout" I give my students when I teach Introduction to Philosophy. I hope this will help you see that those who are telling you to fear truth and reason are on thin ice.
__________________________________________________________________
CHRISTIANS AND PHILOSOPHY
Select Scripture on Minds, Reason, Philosophy, Wisdom, Truth, Knowledge

Premodern philosophy has always been about the love of wisdom, and the pursuit of Truth, Beauty and Goodness. Traditionally, Christianity has not feared this pursuit, because Christians know that it ultimately lead seekers to God.

It shouldn't be surprising that this infuriates Satan, who is a great counterfeiter. Everything that God has created good, he mocks by presenting an infernal alternate. It should not surprise us that he has done he same thing when it comes to intellectual endeavors, and so he has snared many away for himself. That is why, among many Christians, philosophy and the life of the mind have gotten such a bad reputation. Satan has succeeded, not only in presenting philosophy as a worldly, human activity, but in getting Christians to believe that that is all philosophy is.

However, we can counter Satan’s lies with God’s truth: Jesus Christ wants to capture our minds, and that when He does, the result is Christian philosophy-- a way of thinking that eschews intellectual vice, and which understands Him to be the Way, the Truth and the Life.

A. Is it possible to be a Christian and a philosopher?

Luke 10:27
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.

2 Corinthians 10:55
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Colossians 2:8-10
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,
which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather
than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ… (implying that there is a philosophy which does not depend on human tradition and worldly principles, but on God’s revelation—both natural and special—and on Christ Himself.)

1 Corinthians 1:20
Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (implying there is a perennial l philosophy, and one seeking the wisdom of God)

B. Why should a Christian be a philosopher?

Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord.

Acts 17:11
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they
received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied: ”‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.’

Matthew 22:4 (Jesus poses a dilemma for the Pharisees) “Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Christ?”

1 Peter 3:15
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

Romans 12:1-2 1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Philippians 1:7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.

Acts 17:22 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

Colossians 1:9-13 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

Colossians 1:28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

Colossians 3:1-21 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

2 Corinthians10:4-5The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians11:1-6 I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. 5 But I do not think I am in the least
inferior to those “super-apostles.” 6 I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.

Ephesians 1:17-18  I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,so that you may know him better. 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Ephesians 4:14- 24 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men int heir deceitful scheming. 15 Instead,speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ…17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. 20 You,however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Philippians 1:9-11 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 4:88 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

1 John 4:5-6  They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

2 John 1-4 To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— 2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love. 4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us 

3 John 3-4 It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

(continued) 

Hurley's Mom: Confession of Faith?

I'm intrigued by Hurley's mom. She's certainly no saint, but she has raised Hurley not to lie. This has caused him much grief, but will it be the key to his redemption? With all the crucifixes that surround her, is the show wanting us to get the message that she is a woman of faith?

Last night on Lost, Hurley confesses to her that the Oceanic Six all agreed to lie about the other survivors. He tells her the whole story. She says, "I believe you. I don't understand you, but I believe you." Is this a picture of Mark 9:24?

Think of all the other positions she could have taken. She could have said,

1) I believe so I can understand.
2) I don't believe, so I don't understand.
3) I believe so I don't need to understand.
4) I don't need to believe because I understand.

Where would you say you are?

Why Materialism Makes You Unhappy

via Brad:
Why Materialism Makes You Unhappy"

We propose four psychological needs. The first is safety/security, which is the need to feel like you’ll survive, like you are not in danger, like you will have enough food and water and shelter to make it another day. The second is competence or efficacy, which is the need to feel like you are skillful and able to do the things that you set out to do: I need to feel like a good psychologist, you might need to feel like a good journalist, etc. The third is connection or relatedness, which concerns having close, intimate relationships with other people. The fourth need is for freedom or autonomy, which is feeling like you do what you do because you choose it and want to do it rather than feeling compelled or forced to do it.

As I lay out in my book, The High Price of Materialism, people who put a strong focus on materialism in their lives tend to have poor satisfaction of each of these four needs. In part this is because of their development, but it also is because materialism creates a lifestyle that does a poor job of satisfying these needs. That is, a materialistic lifestyle tends to perpetuate feelings of insecurity, to lead people to hinge their competence on pretty fleeting, external sources, to damage relationships, and to distract people from the more fun, more meaningful, and freer ways of living life.

Or here's an even shorter Thomistic answer:
because we are not simply material beings, but beings made in the image of God, and so "according to the maker's instructions,"
we have to pay attention to the dimensions of our being which connect with truth, beauty, goodness, and love. In other words, we can't be happy apart from Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Words for this season of life

1 Peter 4

12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And,
"If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"

19 So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

I am trying very hard to live these words. We are suffering, but I'm trying to commit myself to my faithful Creator and do good. Last week's efforts produced $1614 from the Youth Garage Sale; next Tuesday I will make sure all the tables are up, set and decorated for the 80 people at the High School Graduation dinner; and then there is A. and her needs and the possibility of two weeks of teaching Cornerstone.

Even thought it may appear so, I am not hiding from the pain by trying to keep busy. I think this work that I've been given is building something within me that is helping me to face reality , and which will enable me, when called upon, to "call a spade a spade."

Lord, show me your Son, even if it means sharing the reality of His suffering. Please give me the strength to continue to do good, and the courage to speak His truth to your people when the time comes. In Jesus' name. Amen.

http://richardkew.blogspot.com/

Back in the Sixties, Dr. Francis Shaeffer's first book was published. It was entitled Escape from Reason, and while Shaeffer's style was not what you would call readily accessible, it was profoundly influential in the lives of many of us who were struggling to work out how to think Christianly -- and, as a result, live Christianly. If Shaeffer had been alive and writing today I suspect the content would have been significantly different and the title might have been Escape from Reality.

We live today in a culture that it seems will do almost anything to hide from reality. We entertain ourselves to death, and we think nothing of repackaging facts, notions, and ideas so that they will not disturb our illusions. We refuse to take words (or in the Christian world, the Word) at plain face value, and then we reinterpret and twist them to suit our own preferences and propensities. Our world is one that is much more comfortable with image rather than substance, and puts feelings before objectivities.

This came home to me afresh when talking recently with my younger daughter, who is a physician. As part of her residency in a gynecology rotation she was asked if she would be prepared to spend a morning observing abortions, something with which she found herself as a committed and biblical Christian struggling. Finally she decided that if she was to be able to give adequate advice in the future to her patients, then at least she should have some first hand knowledge of what happens in such unfortunate circumstances.

On that day there were two procedures. One was a gynecological necessity: something had gone so terribly wrong in the womb that the fertilized egg had died as a result of some unexplained deformity. This was, as she pointed out to me, little more than a D. and C. The other was the termination of a twelve-week pregnancy. My daughter told me that she put on a professional face while having to put her heart, head, and emotions on hold for a while.

As she explained to me what happened I realized that what was going on in that medical situation was akin to an escape from reality by means of being trying to cloud what was going on. Before the procedure began an ultrasound was taken, but the patient was discouraged from seeing it. No explanation was given, but the only reason must have been that at that point the fetus looked so much a baby that it might discourage the mother from going forward.

Then the procedure was completed and the pump had done its work, those working in the operating room had to go through the contents of the receptacle to make sure that nothing had been left behind. As it happened all the organs were there: tiny arms, legs, a head, and so forth. Yet all the time the fiction was being maintained that this was merely the removal of something unwanted that had invaded this woman's body.

Even the language that was used in this particular environment was framed to prevent an actual discussion of the mindset behind such medical events. Rather than talking of the options of pro-choice and pro-life, the appropriate terminology was pro-choice and anti-choice. I suspect that behind this was the fact that being able to choose from a vast array of possibilities is the ultimate good in the postmodern world, so language is configured to make it seem that those who believed that a child had been conceived and now discarded were standing in the way of what is best within our culture.

I tell this story not because I find abortion deeply repugnant (which I do), but because it is such a clear illustration of the manner in which we are willing to put up with the distortion of reality in so many areas and disciplines of life. I would go so far as saying that we live in a world that had an inbuilt determination to do its best hide its head in the sand rather than the sometimes uncomfortable and painful business of facing up to reality.

We see this syndrome working itself out in all sorts of settings and disciplines, and I suspect there are probably times when we catch ourselves doing it. Facing up to reality is not a lot of fun, whether it is the implications of climate change and the part each of us might play in it, to the pitiful messes that we make of our own individual lives and relationships -- yet there is a difference between attempting to cushion life's pressures and trying to avoid them.

At the heart of Christian discipleship is the task of facing and facing up to reality, for at its heart is the incarnation and the work of the Cross, which are God's way of enabling us to deal with the tragedies and hardships that reality engenders. Eugene Peterson recently wrote, "We can refuse to permit the culture to dictate the way we go about our lives" (The Jesus Way page 13) and so we should if we are serious about our faith. This means being willing to face up to reality and its consequences, rather than hiding ourselves away from it, and as they say around the part of the world where I grew up, 'calling a spade a spade.'

Blaming and Truth Telling, Part 3

Okay, the last post was done in analytic mode; this one will take the same information and do it in imaginative mode.

Truth-Telling Stories

A. A speaks truth objectively; B receives it objectively

Abby: Brett, I'm so glad you're home. But you agreed to be back before midnight. It's 1:30 in the morning!
Brett: You're right, Mom, I am late. I'm so sorry. I didn't pay attention to the time.

B. A speaks truth objectively, B receives it subjectively.

Abby: Brett, I'm so glad you're home. But you agreed to be back before midnight. It's 1:30 in the morning!
Brett: There you go again, finding fault with me! I can never please you, can I? Maybe I should just turn around and go back to Jeff's.

C. A speaks truth subjectively, B receives it subjectively

Abby: Brett Barton Brown--finally! You've come home! Don't you realize what time it is? You don't ever consider anyone but yourself, do you? I've been worried sick about you!
Brett: There you go again, finding fault with me! I can never please you, can I? Maybe I should just turn around and go back to Jeff's!

D. A speaks truth subjectively, B receives it objectively

Abby: Brett Barton Brown--finally! You've come home! Don't you realize what time it is? You don't ever consider anyone but yourself, do you? I've been worried sick about you!
Brett: You're right, Abby, I am late. I'm so sorry. I didn't pay attention to the time.

E. A does not speak truth; B receives it objectively

Abby: So, you've come home. No doubt you were out drinking with your friends til all hours.
Brett: Yes, I'm late, but its not because I was drinking. Actually, I was rear-ended at the corner. The trunk and bumper are all smashed up, and it took the police forever to come.

F. A does not speak truth; B receives it subjectively

Abby: So you've come home. No doubt you were out drinking with your friends til all hours.
Brett: There you go again, finding fault with me! I can never please you, can I? Maybe I should just turn around and go back to Jeff's.

G. A does not speak truth, B does not receive it.

Abby: Good night.
Brett: Yeah, good night.

Blaming and Truth-telling, Part 2

Some logical possibilities:

for any two persons, A and B, here are some ways they can interact:

A. A speaks truth objectively; B receives it objectively
B. A speaks truth objectively, B receives it subjectively
C. A speaks truth subjectively, B receives it subjectively
D. A speaks truth subjectively, B receives it objectively
E. A does not speak truth; B receives it objectively
F. A does not speak truth; B receives it subjectively
G. A does not speak truth, B does not receive it.

H. A blames B positively; B receives it positively
I. A blames B positively; B receives it negatively
J. A blames B negatively, B receives it negatively
K. A blames B negatively, B receives it positively

L. A does not blame B, B does not receive it.

My initial reflections on all this is to ask:

1) Which interactions are most characteristic of the Lord?

A ,C and H, I'd say.

2) Which interactions are least characteristic?

This is harder. The following verses come to my mind. Which ones come to yours?

Luke 6:37

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."

This verse seems to warn against J and K.

John 8:44

"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of all lies."

This verse seems to warn against E and F.

Revelation 3:15-16

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

These verses seem to warn against G and L. Niether what is true nor what is good/right is being upheld, and because of that person B remains in the darkness.

3) Which interactions most characterize our culture?

I'd say C, F G, J and L. But I live in Oregon, so maybe where you live it is different.

4) Now, the hardest question: which interactions are most characteristic of you?

I'd have to say most of the time, B G and L.

Bottom line: as always, it is the difficult lesson of finding that balance between loving the truth and speaking it with love. Lord, deliver me from wanting to be "nice." Jesus wasn't nice. But He was the Truth and He was Love. Grow me in His intellectual and moral virtue, that He might better shine through me.

Blaming and Truth-telling, Part 1

Clarifying the Concepts:

A. What is truth?

1. definitions

truth as pragmatic =truth is a matter of whatever works. The problem with this is, "who gets to decide what works and doesn't?" This is a very postmodern analysis of truth, because it implies a power struggle: those with power determine what is true and the powerless have no recourse. It is also postmodern insofar as it is relativistic: because P works for me, P is true for me. But if P doesn't work for you, then it won't be true for you.

b. truth as coherence=truth is a matter of consistency. This became the favorite modernist definition of truth, because when modernism rejected realist metaphysics and made epistemology "first philosophy," it denied any access to what is "really real." Thus the only criteria for truth is that all the beliefs in any given noetic structure "mesh." The problem with this is that insane people can be extremely consistent. Yet in labeling them as insane we are admitting that they have lost touch with reality, with what is true.

c. truth as correspondence=truth is a matter of reflecting what (better, Who!) is real. It is the theory that characterizes premoderns from Plato to Aristotle to Augustine to Thomas Aquinas. To my mind this is the most fundamental and necessary definition. It is also the most controversial, for, as Alisdair MacIntyre has pointed out in his writings, we do not live in a pluralistic society but rather a fragmented society, picking our way among shards of shattered narratives. We no longer have a shared metanarrative to appeal to, and to discover what is real, true and good.

2. objective aspect

This assumes a realist metaphysic; what is real and true and good is not my own product, or socially constructed. Rather, it's the "X-Files" motto, "The truth is out there," implying that it can be known by more than one person; and that in some way I am responsible for understanding and conforming to it. Josef Pieper calls this the product of ratio, or discursive reason.

3. subjective aspect

This refers to the personal meaning that a truth has for an individual and connects to our non-discursive, imaginative and emotional intelligence. This is the product of intellectus, or intuition, according to Pieper. The apostle James was well aware of this aspect when he wrote about demons who accept the objective truth, "God exists," but subjectively, that truth fills them with fear and loathing. (James 2:19).

B. What is blame?

1. definitions:

--reproach, reprove, reprehend, criticize.

--To blame is to hold accountable for, and disapprove because of, some error, mistake, omission, neglect, or the like: Whom do you blame for the disaster?

--guilt, culpability, fault, sin

--to find fault with (a person)

--to consider someone or something responsible for something bad
--an accusation that you are responsible for some lapse or misdeed; "his incrimination was based on my testimony"; "the police laid the blame on the driver"

--a reproach for some lapse or misdeed; "he took the blame for it"; "it was a bum rap"

--put or pin the blame on [ant: absolve]
--harass with constant criticism; "Don't always pick on your little brother"
--attribute responsibility to; "We blamed the accident on her"; "The tragedy was charged to her inexperience"

2. positive aspect

Just as truth has an objective aspect, so does blame. It is sometimes necessary to make a judgement: to establish responsibility for some error, mistake or sin, in order to hold a person accountable. Without accountability, there cannot be forgiveness, restoration, improvement. But it is a tricky thing to find find the "mean" between the extremes of ignorance and harrassment.

3. negative aspect

The connotations for "blame" that we hold are usually negative ones: constant criticism; scapegoating, harassment, being judgemental. Note that difference? It is one thing to make judgements: you can't be human and not do so. As beings made in God's image, we are called upon to speak truthfully. But it is another thing to be judgemental. As beings made in God's image, we are to speak the truth in love: our judgements must be free of all self-righteousness, pride and ungodly anger.

Whew! Now that we've laid this groundwork, let's move on to consider possible interactions people can have.

Found at Today's devotionals

Found this morning on the the Ann Arbor church's webpage as I was accessing its Phyllis Tickle Divine Hours devotional site:

"The truth is not always halfway between two opposing views."
--Fred Friendly

At last, ashes.

The worst times are the times of waiting. Waiting for a prognosis. And then it comes: the news that finally confirms all you've suspected, or that tells you you were kidding yourself. But whatever the news, good or bad, when it finally comes, there is relief. Relief that now there is truth; that there is a reality which must be lived into.

While these times are tremendously "meaningful," their meaning is derivative from what is real. In the end, the truth gets out. And, thank God, in the end, there is Him who Is the Way the Truth and the life.

Lent began in earnest today. Today we tasted ashes.