What is truth?

A dark winter’s day gives an excuse to light the stub of a Christmas candle, which flickers beside me as I write. Artificial light brings cheer and a cosy feeling: lighting a fire adds warmth. Makes me want to snuggle down with a good book and get lost in a story.

 

Nothing wrong with that. But.

When I am ‘home’ with Mom in southern California, even in November or March, the sun is up by 6 and so am I, eager to embrace all that the day offers. There’s something about natural light, the real thing, that inspires and encourages activity. There’s a clarity; there’s an energy.

I’ve been reading a lot about ‘fake news’, a label which, when bandied about by politicians we want to trust, eventually undermines our confidence and causes us to question the truth of any news story. There were an inordinate number of shenanigans during the last presidential election in the USA, many of them originating in a foreign country, and most of them aimed at disseminating fake news while calling into question things that were true. The electorate was confused; the candidates were confused:  What news contained the truth?

Pilate looked at Jesus, the light of the world, and asked pitifully, ‘What is truth?’ 

A cry that echoes down the centuries and reverberates loudly in the 21^st century. What is truth? He is alive and well and living in his followers. Time to let the light shine, because the darkness is certainly deep.