What is the “truth” anyway?

I remember growing up as a child and hearing in church the quote “ and the truth shall set you free”, what truth is that anyway? After spending a great deal of time in religious study as a child, and for the past twenty years in my adult years I have read books written by religious leaders, scientist and new thought leaders, I realize that there is no “truths”, rather there are more moral compass headings, in which we can navigate through this grand adventure called our life. What was interesting about many of the similarities about these authors is that they all spoke of the “subjective” view of the world we all hold, and that at times it may be impossible to be able to “see the truth” due to the place we may find ourselves at in our life. The words they express to the reader were only true if the reader was either on the cusp of a personal evolution and receptive to new learning or was already in sync with the authors teaching, and still, though it resonates with us, is it the truth? Do we not often gravitate towards teachings and concepts that we already have a preference for, meaning that there is a pre-existing bias towards a certain type of “truth”. I for example love Buddhist tenets because it does not have the same religious dogma that had turned me off from organized religion years ago, so does it mean it’s “the truth”? Well, no, as many good people are involved in organized religion and are amazing, honest, contributing human beings, and I with my connection to Buddhism and the person down the street and their connection to Catholicism, if we are exhibiting the same moral fiber, exuding common characteristics that would lead one to assume we were both “spiritual beings” are we not sharing the same “truth”?
For centuries now and right down to today we have killed our brothers who share the same goals and hopes for life, simply because our truths look different. The “truth” is self-evident and needs no defending, only mistruths, bigotry and prejudice need to be defended. So, after all that, are we any closer to the “truth”? I will tell you what I have come to accept (based on my current level of understanding) as my truths is that 1) we live in an intelligent universe that has a divine order 2) we are co-creators of our own world 3) and holding love as the ultimate truth you can rarely go wrong. I have come to experience of late that when I struggle with a issue I sit back and close my eyes and ask of myself “what would love do”, and the “truth” shines through the darkness, offering such a simple and graceful solution. So at the end of it all I cannot say there is a universal truth that we will agree on at the same time as we are all at different stages of our journey, but perhaps with enough love, humility and compassion we help each other as fellow travelers who are all seeking the same thing, our truth.

C. David Gilks Your Fellow Traveler