I've recently been privy to a conversation relating to the arts (in this case a movie) and their relationship with truth. I have yet to see the movie in question, so I cannot specifically address its content.
But the discussion brought to mind a larger issue among some people of faith. I think the big question in all this is What is truth (or Truth, if you prefer)? Of course, other questions stem from that big one: Can we know the answer? Who holds the answer?
And on and on. As with most matters of faith/spirituality/philosophy, I don't think that there is a simple answer even to these questions about answers. I believe that there is truth, but my qualms come in our ability to grasp it. It reminds me of metaphors about trying to hold fog or drive a nail in jello. Now, don't think that I'm saying that there are no answers or that there is no truth. But again, I think a metaphor addresses the conundrum well.
There's an ancient Indian fable about blind men trying to describe an elephant after touching it. However, each of them only touches part of the elephant, so he thinks that this small part represents the whole animal. One touches the trunk, one an ear, one the tail, one a foot, and one a tusk. Obviously, they report very differently about what kind of animal this is.
I think that God, religion, truth, eternity, and such matters are like this. One person sees things from a Christian perspective, one from a Muslim perspective, another from Hindu, and so on. And I think if we look at it objectively, we might see that there is truth in each and there are shortcomings to each. A problem that we in the West seem to have that those from Eastern traditions don't is that we want there to be a Final Answer. There must be a right-or-wrong, black-or-white distinction made. But all of this is a product of our very limited minds. Life is not an algebraic equation where we are solving for x, with only one right answer.
Maybe there is a final answer, an absolute truth. And I think we do well to seek it. But we tread on thin ice indeed when we claim to have discovered that final and definitive answer.
French author Andre Gide summed it up well: "Trust those who seek the truth; doubt those who find it."
