I used to think I knew What truth is. When very young I decided Always to tell the truth. Sometimes it was hard. But most times it was easier Than feeling the turmoil Inside when I did not.
I used to think I didn't know What faith is. When very young I heard the story: Faith The size of a mustard seed Could move a mountain. But I never felt I had enough faith in me To do very much.
Now I have come to believe That truth and faith Are tightly tied together.
Every moment Information Streams in from our senses And we decide what to believe.
Some new fact Resolves a bunch of questions And I experience a new truth. But someone who never Had such questions Has no basis to understand Or even believe The new truth I found.
Truth is a matter of faith. Each of us builds On what we have believed Up to now In order to decide What to accept And what to reject.
I used to get depressed From some new insight That felt more true Than what I'd believed Up to then. It was negative, And fit more facts. It HAD to be true.
I used to "traffic In The Awful Truth".
And then someone showed me I could find Yet another insight More accurate Because it fit even more facts, But affirmative This time around.
I lived through Self fulfilling prophesies First of unpleasant outcomes And then of happy ones.
Sure enough, Truth is a matter of faith.
And there is a cycle Of interpretation:
Facts seeming to add up To disaster And then to hope And back again.
Now I understand Both truth and faith.
If you hold onto The disasterous interpretation, You get depressed And you lose Your ability to function.
If you hold onto The other, affirmative one, You are always at your best. And you can handle it Even when your best Is not good enough And you fail.
Truth is a matter of faith. It all seems so arbitrary.
So I've been choosing To hold onto the hopeful one.
No Polyanna fibbing to myself. Instead, a committment To search for the next Accurate and affirmative Interpretation In the cycle.
