WHAT IS TRUTH?

Things aren't always as they seem. Many times we are convinced of something being true because of what we read or have been told, but it isn't always completely so. Everyone perceives differently and so many times we don't get the whole TRUTH.

In May of this year my husband and I were in Boston with our oldest grandson for his graduation from medical school. We were so excited to be there and visit the many historical sites that are available to see. Since then I have thought about the fact that sometimes things aren't quite like we have learned. Several items of interest were brought to light to us about how even our historical information here in the United States isn't quite like we learned in the textbooks or have been led to believe. For example, the midnight ride of Paul Revere wasn't quite like I thought. There were other riders, perhaps several who rode through the night warning the people that "The British are coming" and one in particular, William Davies, actually warned a greater population than Paul Revere....but Longfellow wrote the "Midnight ride of Paul Revere" and so because of that publicity many of us have come to think he was the only one who rode to warn the people that night. Another example is regarding the battle of "Bunker Hill". We find that Bunker Hill isn't really where the famous battle was fought, the one described as the Bunker Hill Battle was instead fought on Breeds Hill which is close by. We also received information about Thomas Jefferson there that would be contrary to what we have always believed about him. We find now that he died leaving behind huge debt and was rather an immoral man, not really quite the American hero that we thought he was. We were told that he cut out of the Bible what he wanted to believe and made his own set of scriptures
(I guess some of us sort of do that mentally or emotionally...we cut out the parts we can live comfortably and mentally skip over some of the things that are harder for us to do or rationalize over the intent). Thomas Jefferson gets the credit for writing the "Declaration of Independence", and we were told that many of the ideas for the writing actually came from others, they weren't his exclusively as we have believed.

This year with the national elections in the United States and the political scene looming over us, with candidates vying for our votes, we are inclined to believe what is out there about them. Then there are times when we believe that the news is quite slanted to put forth someone elses agenda. There are those who put forth their beliefs at our expense if we are vulnerable to believe all that is printed or said. With newspapers, magazines, television, and the internet, we are victims of way too much information and it becomes difficult to sort out what is TRUTH....just what is fact and what is fiction? Many times in order to paint a good picture of one candidate, there are accusations made and many of them quite slanderous in order to sway our vote.

It is so difficult to know what to believe about the war in Iraq and Afhganistan. With all the media information it is impossible to know what is really going on. One thing we can be sure of is that there is far too much killing....not just in war zones, but everywhere. Some of the wars being waged are within our borders even in our own homes and are unacceptable in a Christian Society which we claim to be. Way too many innocent lives are lost every day. Many of them don't have anything to protect themselves, or weren't trained in any way to defend themselves and are victims of terrible crimes that are going on right here in our neighborhoods and around the world.

We are led to believe that the huge debt of war is unacceptable...that we are spending way too much money on the war in Iraq. Much of that money we would spend if there wasn't a war just to keep our military strong and able to defend us in case of invasion. Another fact is that we are spending a large amount of money paying for the education
health, and welfare for illegal immigrants in our country. I'm not saying that much of it isn't necessary and that we need to do what we can as a humanitarian project to help those who are downtrodden and seeking a better life. But, in many cases we are doing an injustice to those people and to the rest of our citizens as we focus on them with projects that are crippling to their best good and detrimental to legal residents who need protection from their government.

I always thought that churches taught love and care for the welfare of others. That love for their fellow human beings was first and formost in the teachings. Unfortunately there are some who do not. In some cases we find there are religious leaders who become so involved with their power and prestige that they move out of the bounds of religious teachings and TRUTH becomes more distant.

I quote a former President of Temple Square, Richard I. Winwood, who says in his book, "Be Ye Not Deceived": "Opinion cannot change laws or absolute TRUTHS. Opinions will never make the earth to be flat, the sun to dim its light, God to die or the Savior to cease being the Son of God".

Things as they were, as they are, and as they will become...that is TRUTH. Living in this generation we much work to keep our feet on the ground, to know the truth, who and what to believe. We must wage a war ourselves against everything that is destructive to the well-being of our human family. We need to firmly plant our feet in the gospel of Jesus Christ and live it. TRUTH is found in the teachings of Jesus Christ. If we follow the prophets of our Savior we will find peace and happiness in this life and be prepared for our return to Heavenly Father when this mortal life is over. This weekend as we listen to our Prophet and the Apostles we will hear the TRUTHS of the gospel. How wonderful it is to know that we have a living Prophet to lead and guide us in TRUTH and righteousness. I pray that we will all heed the Prophets words and prepare ourselves to follow Him...
even Jesus Christ.

With love, Maurine Winters