I Suppose...

Years ago I had a friend who I've since come to realize was a text-book narcissist.  If gas-lighting* were an Olympic event, he'd have been a contender, I kid you not.  He was masterful. 

One of his tried and true techniques was to end any disagreement you were having with the words, "Well, I suppose you could convince yourself of anything", thus ending any possibility that you could be correct in your thinking (or that he might be wrong!) and leaving you questioning your sanity.

These days I've been recalling those words and wondering--not about my sanity--but about how it could be that our national conversation has become so polarized and contentious.  Left, right, middle, everyone has "convinced themselves of anything."  Anything that supports one's argument is now a "fact" and anything that challenges it simply "fake news" or "lies." 

The reality, of course, is that each of us comes to the conversation with our own preconceptions based on a host of factors.  We all live on the same planet, yet we see the world differently because our realities are different (really!).  Thus, we all come to the conversation with biases, and whether those are called "good" or "bad" depends on the circles we run in and the thoughts that circle through our minds.   You see, truth and fact are not synonyms--they never have been.  Truth, one would hope, is based on verifiable conditions, but it incorporates one's personal experience and interpretations as well. Or, as an accomplished author and friend once reponded when someone asked if the stories he wrote were "true" quipped, "All of it is true, and some of it actually happened." 

Facts are facts, like them or not.  The truth is something else.

So what is it?  What is the truth?  Are my feelings, my thoughts, my opinions the truth?  And if so, what if they are different than someone else's feelings, thoughts and opinions?  Does that make their's wrong or false?  Is there a truth that is greater than my truth or your truth?  It all gets rather muddy, if you see my point, and leaves us vulnerable to the gas-lighters among us who would have us question our own validity and then take advantage of the ensuing chaos for personal gain. 

We wouldn't be the first to ask about truth, of course.  History provides.  And whether one is particularly bolstered or repelled by examples from the Christian tradition, one cannot ignore that the question about truth was once famously posed by the Roman occupation's Governor of Palestine in the story of Jesus of Nazareth (John 18). 

"What is truth?" Pilate asked.

It was gas-lighting elevated to an art-form, designed to cast doubt on the story and remove any threat to power.  It was gas-lighting intent upon burning down the house that Jesus was working to build, destroying the voices that were calling for compassion, justice, fairness, and equality (all of which might be wrapped up in that even more-famous phrase of Jesus, the one about loving your neighbor as you love yourself) in order to maintain CONTROL.

Friends, these are troubling times, and while my own bias leans toward "can't we all just get along?" I have to be truthful with myself today and answer "No, we cannot."  But perhaps we can all convince ourselves of one thing --that even if we never agree, we can still love.

For faith, hope, and love abide....and the greatest of these is (still and always will be) love.

It may not be a fact--but it's true.

*For those unfamiliar with the term, gas-lighting refers to the manipulation of someone by psychological means into questioning their own sanity.