Truth

Truth may evade us because we do not understand that truth is not simplistic.  What is truth for me may not be truth for you.  Truth may be honesty.  Truth may be the reporting of feelings.  What makes a great painting?  I am told that this or that painting is great, selling for millions of dollars at auction.  I don’t think it’s great, and would not mount it in my home if someone paid me to do so.  A TV program accented bad art.  The commentator said he saw paintings called masterpieces that were worse than the bad art he was covering for the program.  He asked for a definition of bad art.  The answer was that bad art is boring. Human boredom is a poor way to evaluate art, although there may be some part of truth in whether or not an object evaluated is boring or scintillating.  I agree that great art is found in the sculpture we know as the Pieta.  For me the Pieta loses some of its favorable evaluation in that Mary was not present at the Cross after her dismissal or in the management of the corpse after the crucifixion, and the veins in the scene representing the body of Christ had full volume as though blood was flowing in the lifeless body.  The blood had been drawn in the wounds of the crucifixion, with the final thrust of a spear in Jesus’ side to assure the attending officer of death.  Even at this gruesome point, Jesus was in control by determining the point of expiration.  The officer was surprised.  It seemed miraculous to him.  It was a miracle.  Christ was not accepting punishment from the authorities for some violation, but making his own deliberate sacrifice for God’s purpose in a redemptive plan.  It is highly unlikely that women in fine linen, in the culture of the times would be permitted to be present in the disposal of bodies from crosses, bodies ordinarily treated with little dignity.  Nicodemus, with his servants, gained permission to manage the removal of Jesus body so to make another gesture toward the meaning of the event separate from the intent of the authorities.  Nicodemus must have used his recognition from among authoritative persons, so gained his objective.  The next time Mary saw the figure of Jesus, after Jesus dismissed her to the care of John at the crucifixion, was after the resurrection.  The Pieta does not depict the event, but the imagination of the artist of how a mother might have acted in pity in a close contact with her violated and expired son.   She could not have taken the body in the position noted in the sculpture, nor managed the weight of the body clumsy in her lap.  What is the artistic truth and experience gained from the sculpture?  Pity or empathy?

Science seeks to find the truth from nature.  We seek to find the secrets of nature that inform us what we need to know as thoughtful persons about what is needed to survive in nature, and even advance life and its context.  The presuppositions of persons determine what may be truth, and what may be fiction for them.  In an attempt to find truth we have only a few measures.  Evidence of the important matters of affirmation may seem scant.  That we have is marvelous in our eyes, if we understand the creation, nature and have faith in an intelligent, competent and involved God-person managing the outcomes.  The truth of the matter is that we have, at best, only a little of the truth of the universe, but we have enough. 

If we set aside the revelation of Scripture, what have we left?  We have left only that we can extract from nature.  Even that is open to interpretations, influencing some in this direction and some in that.  There are always miscalculations from every side.  There are a few factors on which there is wide agreement – that given nature without a power beyond nature the nature is winding down to an ending that will leave the habitat of earth as barren as the other planets we know about.  This is achieved through a cooperative effort between man (utilizing resources to their end) and nature (visiting extremes upon the planet).  That means ultimately the end of life as we know it in the nature system.  The only proposed answer is that there be found some way to occupy another planet and devise a way for survival either by colonizing the planet, or finding resources and means to provide earth with resources for any evolving situation.  That hope is attended by problems so enormous that researchers seem wishful beyond possibilities in their efforts.  At this juncture in history we have nothing left – nothing for hope except the revelation of God that he cares for mankind, provides courage for life, includes love and care in his involvement, for those who turn to him.