Whose truth is truth?:

Can a tree talk about itself? Can an animal write an exam? Can a rock develop a philosophical argument? Why is it that only humans have a written and oral language? What animal, tree, or rock has a written, organized, and historical record of itself? What is the only element in nature that possesses qualities and attributes not found elsewhere in nature? What is it that makes a human a human? Can a rock decide what is fair? Can a tree distinguish between right and wrong? What other organism has been able to extract the hidden secrets of nature from its grasp and then employ them to its own ends in a way not revealed or expressed in nature? Nature produces that which we call natural whereas humans are able to develop that which is synthetic and which does not occur naturally. The three kingdoms that lie beneath humans, to wit, the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, never have and never will be able to develop radio, television, computers, microscopes, telescopes, printing presses, satellites etc. because they are deprived of the intellectual tools found only in humans whereby the hidden secrets of nature are brought into visibility and extracted from its jealously guarded grasp. Humans do not have the power of creation but they do have the power of discovery and it is this power of discovery manifested through human curiosity that is the motivating force behind research. Research, experiment, and intellectual reasoning are the tools by which we explore the mysteries of nature and discover that which was hidden.

If humans were just another product of nature why is it that they possess qualities not found elsewhere in nature? It can be argued that because the human body is a part of nature and humans have intellectual reasoning that it necessarily follows that intellectual reasoning is, therefore, a part of nature. This is a superficial argument and does nothing to explain how a product of nature is able to produce that which nature cannot. If we are to take a cup of water from the ocean it cannot be argued that the cup can contain that which the ocean does not since all it contains was taken from the ocean and all it will ever be is contained in the ocean. This is not true of humans. The human intellect is superior to nature even if it is housed in a physical receptacle formed from elements taken from nature. It is not, however, the body that is superior since the human body is generally inferior in most respects to the other kingdoms of nature. It is the human mind, the intellectual personality, the deductive reasoning power of the human spirit that animates and utilizes the material body all of which enable the mind to function in a physical world.

What is required is for each and every person to exercise their God given power of discovery and deductive reasoning to arrive at self-evident truths and to not be diverted by the misguided conceptions and superstitions of others. Imitation may well be the greatest expression of admiration in arts and crafts but in the realm of common sense and philosophy it can be the greatest deterrent to the truth. To believe something simply because someone else believes it, without conducting your own personal investigation into its verities, is nothing more than moral and ethical foolishness that can launch a person along the pathway to error and potential disaster. Because a person is a celebrity or an expert in some particular field, or even our parents or siblings, is no guarantee that their views and opinions are valid and not simply the imitation of someone else whom they admired and assumed could not be mistaken. Truth, whether it be scientific, philosophical, or religious must be that which we have arrived at by applying our own resources and exploration and equally must not be that which is imposed upon us arbitrarily by some outside alleged source of authority. This is not anarchy but is, rather, the exercise of our native talents in the pursuit of truth.

Truth, however, is relative and that which may be true for one person, group, or nation may not necessarily be true for another. This can apply to social customs, history, or empirical experience, nonetheless, there are universal truths that apply to each and every person without exception and if these are not recognized, embraced, and incorporated into a criteria by which to evaluate and discriminate between spiritual and moral truth and to separate it from that which is sheer superstition and myth then we become nothing more than emotional and spiritual sheep being led to the slaughter by wolves ‘dressed in sheep’s clothing’.

-------------------

Nature is indeed a strange and fascinating entity. Ostensibly random and without direction or purpose, acting in mindless obedience to the laws by which it is shaped, and exhibiting neither conscience nor remorse for the events that arise within it, and yet, at the heart of each event lies the seed of Divine intention and within the operation of each physical law is deposited a Divine intelligence without which all matter and all phenomena that derive from it would cease to exist.

Many phenomena, although ostensibly random, act in accordance with and bear eloquent witness to the pervading presence of, universal laws that govern the behaviour and direct the operation of all matter, whether in the observable universe or in those as yet undiscovered.

Nature is guided by an infinite Intelligence, incapable of mistakes, absolute in Its control over all things both visible and invisible, and infinitely patient in the gradual disclosure of Its secrets. What may appear to be bizarre or unique or an anachronism not in keeping with the normal course of events can, in retrospect, be recognized as a self-regulating expression of a perfectly designed, self-contained system, that requires neither intervention or improvement. What may appear to be intervention, or wrath, or the correction of inherent errors, or the remedy for oversights, or the introduction of measures to compensate for flaws in the original design are, in reality, the outer expression of inherent safeguards intrinsic to the original blueprint and not, as is so often mistakenly advanced, Divine attempts to rectify deficiencies in the original design.

When the need arises and occasion demands, there will appear, with varying degrees of capacity, those who will meet the exigencies of the period in which they appear and who, by virtue of their example, will assist humankind in its advance toward a pre-determined destiny the duration of which can only be measured in infinity. And, there are Those within each epoch Who arise and, as Divine Spokesmen for the age in which They appear, found the great religions, uplift the human spirit, edify the soul, cultivate the morals, enlighten the mind, animate the heart, and inaugurate a new and vital cycle of progress for humankind as a whole.