Shades of Truth!

The above picture of a bush, taken at the golden hour in the evening, when the sun was shining on it, gave its natural autumn look. 

While editing the picture, I allowed different light exposures as shown below in the four photos. 

There is a difference between the original first picture and the other four in terms of the colour, brightness and appearance. 

I could not but take this metaphor in to a real life situation to understand the shades of truth that can be associated with an event. 

I happened to hear the description of an event yesterday from three people. Each of them had differing narration of details. The event was a scooterist falling on the road side while negotiating a pot hole. One said that he lost control; the second that he was trying to avoid a vehicle coming coming too close to him and the third said that he was still leaning to ride  a scooter. In fact none of them was on the spot to have watched the event. I happened to meet him in a shop and asked him if he was hurt when his scooter slided on the road. He said that as the pothole was waterlogged, he had not slowed down the scooter to be safe. 

As I listened to the four versions I realised that there is a difference between truth and impression. 

I confess that I too have fallen in to this slip often. Instead of seeking to find the truth as much  authentically as possible, I got carried away with my impressions. 

What changed the appearance of the picture of the bush above, is light which determines the exposure factor in photography. 

The truth in a give situation is affected by the subjectivity caused by one's own optic and inner filters. We often hear and believe what corresponds with our perspective or opinion. 

I recall the theory of folly of confirmation in dispute resolution!

A person believes in his or her opinion and is seeking to get evidence to confirm that his or her perspective is the truth. When the required evidence is not forthcoming, there is an effort to distort facts to confirm his or her earlier presupposition. 

In that sense truth often remains concealed, scattered and hidden. 

In the science of statistics we are working on the assumption of occurrence of an event based on the theory of probability. One gathers evidence from investigations to prove that there is high chance of something to be true, based on the reliability we attribute to the P value and other complex statistical tools we use. The science of statistics once suggested that there might be a risk associated with immunisation with children developing autistic behaviour. Later further international collaborative studies disproved that theory of probability and linkage. So truth gets sometimes bartered between circumstantial evidences. 

I wonder whether truth has a larger dimension in one's life, beyond what can be proved by evidence! In the practice of Jurisprudence, the justice system relies on eye witnesses and evidences. What if the witnesses collaborated to create a story other than what really happened! 

Let suggest that truth lies disguised or covered. What is made to believe popularly may not be the entire truth. 

When king Solomon, about whom we read in the Old Testament of the Bible,  was confronted by two mothers, both claiming be the mother of a living child,  the king decided to divide the child between the two. It was then the true mother  of the living child offered that her son be given to the other woman rather than kill the child. The other woman, who was not the living child's mother was comfortable for the child to be killed.  Thus when King Solomon settled the dispute between two quarrelling mothers, as to whose son is the living child, the wisdom of the King brought out the truth that remained in ambush (I Kings 4:29-34). 

Let  suggest that truth is evasive to a crafty and manipulating mind. 

It is a discerning mind which would seek for the truth and pursue it!

Our remind is a reflection of our inner conscience, whose moral thermostat is the ethos of life we subscribe to. 

In the words of Jesus of Nazareth, the light within us is what illuminates our inner and outer path. 'If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great I step darkness'!(Mathew 6:23). It is the reading and meditating on God's word written in the Scripture, which illuminates us and leads us into all truth.  

There are shades of truth. That is not the whole truth. The photos of a bush above had different shades of brightness, but the first picture alone was original. The rest were edited versions. 

To be truth finders and truthful, we need a mind that is wholesome and free to receive the truth!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)