"What is Truth?"

What is truth? An appropriate question to ponder at this time of the liturgical year, as well as at this (or any) point in world history. The Rev. Albert Scariato, M.D., in his article, “A Question of Relationship,” (Washington Window, April 2005), provides this reflection on this age-old question:

Spanning the history of the church, the Holy Spirit has striven to guide the world, both outside and inside the church, into a more complete understanding of truth. A vital question in Jesus’ time and in our own comes from Pilate’s lips (John 18:38), “What is truth?” Accessing that truth has been the work that the church has been commissioned to explore, incorporate and proclaim. Never has so great a task been undertaken by mere mortals. Truth has within it the power to create freedom (John 8:32). Freedom itself represents the ultimate gift of our God.

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Approximation of the Love of God

In his article “A Question of Relationship” in the April 2005 issue of Washington Window, the Rev. Albert Scariato, M.D. writes:

“Each of us has unique windows, our relationships with other people, created in God’s image, that reveal the love and truth of God that is revealed in Jesus Christ. Those interpersonal relationships, even with all their foibles and frailties, where we encounter love give us an approximation of the love that God has for each and every human being.”

While true for every person in relationship, how much more so for homosexuals in committed relationships. In a world where they are often looked down upon, chastised, vilified, and even condemned, gays and lesbians living in committed relationships find a safe haven from the negativity they experience in other (if not most) areas of their daily lives. As such, what they are able to find in their relationships is total acceptance and freedom to be who they are, without judgment, without condemnation. If that is not “an approximation of the love that God has for each and every human being,” I don’t know what is.

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Challenging "Empire"

In “Alien Witness,” an article in the March 6, 2007 issue of Christian Century, Walter Brueggemann writes on the subject of how God’s people challenge empire. (Online version of the article can be found here.) His assessment of Israel of the Old Testament was that

"the wave of the future of God's people . . . were those who kept their critical distance, who regularly reminded the empire of that which it wanted to forget: that human power is penultimate, that there are limits to the power of empire, and that power finally is judged according to its enactments of mercy, compassion and justice” (p. 28).

Lest we forget, this was not only true for Israel, but also holds true for all areas of our life today – for our nation, for our parishes, for The Episcopal Church, and for the Anglican Communion. Thank you, Uncle Walter, for reminding us of such eternal, God-given truths.

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