An Introduction to what Follows
An Introduction to what Follows
Everyone ends up collecting something as they journey through Life … For me , I simply ended up being drawn – while searching for “ the truth ” – to collect Truths .
Now , ideological “ truth ” is a funny thing ; slippery according to circumstance and very hard to pin down once captured … As such , it is very unlike Wisdom , which is constant -- obvious and unfettered and tangible and plain and unchanging .
Indeed ( and in-deed ), even though we have all been taught that Truth and Wisdom are “ kissing cousins ”, in actuality they couldn ‟ t be more different . “ Truth ” is conceptual , while Wisdom is verifiable … “ Truth ” is knowledge – a noun , while Wisdom is the setting that knowledge into harmonious motion – a verb … “ Truth ” ponders & theorizes & hypothesizes , while Wisdom simply identifies what functions … “ Truth ” might delineate our choices , and yet it is Wisdom that guides us towards making good ones … “ Truth ” is intellectual ; accumulating information and defining meanings , while wisdom is practical ; making “ facts ” ( and therefore Life itself ) Meaning-full … “ Truth ” changes over time – contracting as old information is found lacking & expanding as new information is found to bear “ Good Fruit ”, while Wisdom remains the constant bellwether through which those evolutions ensue … “ Truth ” is a powerful tool – one that is utterly useless ( and even drastically dangerous ) unless skillfully used in harmony with acquired Wisdom … In essence , as one scholar once put it : “ Truth is knowing that a tomato is a fruit ; Wisdom is knowing not to put tomatoes into a fruit salad .”
As such , it is the former – “ truth ” – that I have gently abandoned as “ false ”, and it is the latter – “ Wisdom ” – that I have repeatedly rediscovered to be True . And so it is that while I do most humbly and most publicly now declare that I most certainly do not have access to anything resembling “ the Truth ”, I most certainly have acquired access to a set of principles & values that – to the degree that they are courageously applied & enlivened – have always proven to be Wise . And it is these same principles & values that are represented by the words & images contained in the pages that follow …
May you each receive much Peace while reading them &/ or gazing upon them , and may at least a few of them inspire you to go forth and know the Bliss that only comes to those who choose to put their Goodness into motion .
Amen … Let it be so .
Scaughdt
October 2016
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