“I just calls ‘em as I sees ‘em.”
This is a phrase used by persons who report facts or strong opinions but without concern about the effects of the statements. On the one hand you know exactly where you stand with such a person. There is no doubt. If you want to know what they think of the color you painted your living room they will be most forthcoming. “That is the ugliest color I could imagine in here. Hey, I just calls ‘em as I sees ‘em and if you can’t handle it you shouldn’t ask.”
On the oth
er hand can a statement be considered truth without the component of love? Are not truth and love two faces of the same coin? You can try to love someone without truth, but is it then love? It may look, feel, and act like love but in the end it is deceit and therefore not love. You might also speak something factual but if it is not done in love and therefore not with a heart toward bringing another more deeply into truth (perhaps even using it as a battering ram) is it not a bit deceptive and therefore not truth?
For example, a man was walking down a bus aisle on the Metro telling people that unless they were saved they were going to hell. Offended at his assumptions people began to tune him o
ut. Suppose that for a moment that he was correct and that those not saved in the manner in which he believed they should be saved were going to hell. Yet he spoke of it in such a way that nobody wanted to listen to him. Could he be truly said to be speaking in the fullness of truth?
This is not to say that at times subjects must be spoken directly and bluntly. But behind the bluntness must be the intention of love and concern for the other person, this being seen as the best way to reach them. That is when fact becomes truth.
This is a phrase used by persons who report facts or strong opinions but without concern about the effects of the statements. On the one hand you know exactly where you stand with such a person. There is no doubt. If you want to know what they think of the color you painted your living room they will be most forthcoming. “That is the ugliest color I could imagine in here. Hey, I just calls ‘em as I sees ‘em and if you can’t handle it you shouldn’t ask.”
On the oth
er hand can a statement be considered truth without the component of love? Are not truth and love two faces of the same coin? You can try to love someone without truth, but is it then love? It may look, feel, and act like love but in the end it is deceit and therefore not love. You might also speak something factual but if it is not done in love and therefore not with a heart toward bringing another more deeply into truth (perhaps even using it as a battering ram) is it not a bit deceptive and therefore not truth?For example, a man was walking down a bus aisle on the Metro telling people that unless they were saved they were going to hell. Offended at his assumptions people began to tune him o
ut. Suppose that for a moment that he was correct and that those not saved in the manner in which he believed they should be saved were going to hell. Yet he spoke of it in such a way that nobody wanted to listen to him. Could he be truly said to be speaking in the fullness of truth?This is not to say that at times subjects must be spoken directly and bluntly. But behind the bluntness must be the intention of love and concern for the other person, this being seen as the best way to reach them. That is when fact becomes truth.
"That is when fact becomes truth."
ReplyDeleteWow...nice. Never thought of it that way. He didn't say, "I am the Way, the Facts, and the Life." Facts can bludgeon, but Truth persuades.
Ah, good words, Father. But sometimes, no matter how kindly the "facts" are spoken, they are received as "hate speech." So, apparently, somehow we must find a way to preceed our "facts" by our loving words and actions. (Do they notice?) I can "speak the truth" but I'm not so good at "speaking the truth in love." So, I usually don't say anything.
ReplyDeleteGreat words Father. Full of depth and very thought provoking. The picture of the Adam's Ale is hilarious!
ReplyDeletePatrick
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