DEACON 11: «What is Truth?»

“What is Truth”

Johnny Cash wrote “And the lonely voice of youth cries what is truth?” (“What is Truth”/Album Starportrait 1971)…

John Lennon wrote «I’ve had enough of watching scenes of schizophrenic, ego-centric, paranoiac, prima-donnas. All I want is the truth now, just gimme some truth…» («Gimme Some Truth» from Imagine 1971).

Both of these powerful songs (among many, many more) were written in those years. I reckon those were the years when values had value…

But the youth are not the only ones asking that question. And neither are the angry people. As we get older…and older…truth becomes more of a memory, or a metaphor. Its borders grow more porous and porous as the years go by because truth is slowly being replaced with memories and memories get edited and changed as the years advance. After all, is not remembering a mental editing process?

But getting deeper into the subject one can read in the New Testament of the Holy Bible that when Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilot, Pilot also asked “What is truth?” Was that because he was doubtful of his own power, or of Jesus’s power? I do not know…

So I must conclude that truth is important, but illusive. It’s one of those «somethings» that people cannot easily understand or define. History shows us that truth, as a principle, is not something that people will always readily adhere to. But I ask, can it be that we ask such a question to justify our position regarding such a quest, the quest for truth? I do not know. We may think we are in the truth. Or we may know we are lying, cheating bastards as far away from the truth as one can get. But we question, “what is truth?”, so that we can remain at peace with ourselves hoping that someone will come up with a definition that might clear us of our guilt.

Jesus also said “I am the way, the truth and the life…”. And what exactly does that mean? The way? The way towards Heaven? The truth? The same truth that will “set us free”? The life? A meaning a fruitful, happy existence in peace? Perhaps…

But people do demand truth. The truth they demand is a political concept, or think of it as a social construct. People want truth to be incorporated into justice. This is the truth that seals a social contract between governments and the people guaranteeing a dignified life for all. Truth is a demand for rights, for opportunities and for freedom.

After all we live in a world where there are so many that are oppressed by governments have reduced them to merely existing, not living as dignified human beings. We live in a world where many countries willingly and openly violate Human Rights. The people suffering these atrocities demand freedom, justice, and the truth that will deliver them from oppression, the truth that will set them free. The truth they seek is truth as the opposite of hypocrisy, chauvinism, manipulation and lies.

But still there is no truth for many. Twenty-one centuries of civilization and there is still no universal “truth” out there that can save the people from suffering tyrannical regimes. For those people truth is not an honourable concept, it is a joke. When Jesus said that he was the way, the truth and the life, he referred to a spiritual concept. Perhaps he had those people in mind, those that can more easily appreciate his words for they are lost, manipulated, enslaved.

When a man is in that situation the thought acquires a much stronger meaning because even suffering the strongest bonds of a brutal dictator, a man’s mind can be at peace. This is the life. When there is nothing to lose one loses the fear of losing anything, even one’s life. That is the way. When one confronts the mind games and manipulations, they no longer are powerful repressive techniques. One is at peace. That is the truth. One suffering thus knows that the tyrant will destroy his body but only God can take his soul. That is the way of life and of truth. That is the door to deliverance.

So no matter how many voices of lonely youth cry out “what is truth?” or how many angry men demand (from someone) “give me some truth”, truth remains a relatively harmless issue for debates. But when it is a matter of life and death, truth becomes an imperative and a way towards God.

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*”What is Truth”/written by Johnny Cash from the album Starportrait, 1971.
*”Gimme Some Truth”/written by John Lennon from the album Imagine, 1971.

C.2025, Francisco Bravo Cabrera/10 FEB 2025/Valencia, España

CHEERS