Time's up

I'm sure everyone has been asked the answer to a riddle, been given a certain time in which to guess it, and then hears the familiar refrain, "Time's up." The person gives you the answer since you have been stupid enough not to come up with it. Every December 31st I think, "One more year I have looked for the answers to life, and although I may be a tad bit smarter, I am not that much closer to finding the answer. I hear, 'Time's up.'" Then I start another year's search.

The truth is that whenever I find a little of the truth, I know it is just for me. Seldom does it also apply more widely to friends, siblings, children, spouse, relatives, co-workers, or people in organizations. Even those who share the same goals don't actually get the same truth. I have a friend who has been invited to teach a class at a univerisity on the interpretation of the New Testament. We both know that interpretation underlies the value system we have, so we try hard to develop a sound system of interpretation. But we have differences on what "sound" is. He and I even talked at length about and agreed on the validity of the chapter headings and subheadings of the book he will use in the class. But, given enough passages, there will end up too many choices and our interpretations will be different. For example, when authorship of any book of the New Testament is in question, my friend will argue well for a particular author different from mine, usually, and then decide that it doesn't matter who wrote it because the book was canonized. It does matter to me, on the other hand, because certain positions of "doctrine" may not be deemed important if the author is not who he is purported to be.

That's what makes life and truth so illusive. Multiply the number of interpretive choices (sound ones, even) times 300 million people in the US and 7 billion people in the world and the web of truth becomes so entangled. Ultimately, one year will be the final earth year for me, and when I hear "Time's up" that time, I will want my value system to have reflected the principles of decent living that the Creator expected me to learn in the small increments from one year to the next, piecemealed.

I would like to include the first post I wrote on Blogger.com about 2 1/2 years ago. It shows that I haven't come very far in discovering truth.
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Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Convolution

The more the world spins on its axis, the more that everyone is out for him(her)self. The more the truth gets expounded upon, the more truth becomes relative. The more one knows about the people around him (her), the more one becomes comfortable with his(her) own positions in life. No solid ground exists—only a jello surface morphing and dancing beneath one's feet. I think learning to live means learning that jello is tasty even if it is not solid.

posted by Dwordman @ 7:22 PM 0 Comments