Friends of the Truth was our original name for the first 100 years, but what does that mean?  Like Pilate did while questioning Jesus, we can all ask, “What is truth?”  Like the paper excerpt that Tony read said, we typically think about truth as being the absolute answer to something. It’s verified and verifiable.   But even Pilate knew that there are different ways to interpret the truth.  He found no wrong in Jesus.

The whole Lenten scene, from foot-washing to the resurrection, is filled with questions about truth and places where people failed the Truth for one human reason or another. We have to relate to some of this.  Not that we have been blamed for something at some time that we didn’t do (sarcasm).  We all at some time in our lives have misunderstood and been misunderstood, misrepresented something or been misrepresented, and gotten the message wrong and also been misquoted.  But we can’t throw stones when this happens.  We all take truth as we hear it or see it and change it to fit our fears or our hopes or our beliefs. Confirmation bias is a real thing.  Too many times we hear what we want to and only listen to people that agree with us.  To support the truth, we have to get out of these habits and only go with honest, good sources that have been vetted.

What do we as Quakers focus on when it comes to being Friends of the Truth?  In what ways is truth very important to us?  How are we filled with the Spirit of truth?  How do we live that out?

Like Tony read, silence is a time to sit open-hearted to receive interaction with the big T Truth, the spirit of Truth as the scripture said.  That truth goes beyond our comprehension. It is the source of all things truthful. Waiting worship – sitting in silence —  is important not just here in church but making time to open yourself to the spirit of Truth in your daily lives.  This truth, unlike just spouting facts, softens our hearts and humbles us. But it opens us to others.  It also is one way of opening ourselves to direct guidance from God through the spirit of Truth.  There is no need for us to be, think or say anything during the silence, just be open to the truth and faithfully follow the guidance of Christ our Inner Teacher.

Being people who are open to the Spirit of the truth, then we are also open to the truth about ourselves.  When life teaches us something about ourselves, we should accept it if it is true and try to change our own perceptions of ourselves to fit the more truthful version of ourselves. We have to be open to the idea that someone might have experienced us in a way we didn’t mean. As we used to say, “Get real!” This impacts the way we live as we try to be as authentic as possible. 

It means that when we listen, we do so as deeply as possible without defensiveness or prejudices – just being as fully present to someone and making sure we understand what they are saying without making assumptions.  How many times have we made an assumption about what a conversation means to find out later you heard it all wrong?  So part of being truthful is to check out what we are hearing to make sure we are listening attentively.  We have to as we begin any conversation do so being as aware as possible of our own biases and prejudices.  What might be keeping us from hearing the truth?  Are we tired, grumpy, or even too enthusiastic to listen.  Then we have to be genuine with ourselves and the person you are listening to about what is holding you back from hearing their truth. Share your shortfalls.

We also are dedicated as Quakers or Friends of the Truth to integrity – not talking the talk if we aren’t going to walk the walk.  People are going to watch what you do anyway, so you should try to be as truthful as possible about your life by letting it speak of love, peace and goodness when possible.  People should be able to trust that you are doing what you advocated for.

People have to be able to trust our words as truth to us.  And we owe it to other people to check out our sources to make sure that what we are talking about is valid.  We shouldn’t have to take oaths or swear something is true.  As people say , “A person is only as good as their word.”  Someone should say that if it came from you it is probably 100% accurate.

This kind of attention to truth telling shows up in paying taxes and other ways of dealing with customers and other people.  We say it, we do it.  Which makes us a lot pickier about what we say and to not rush to judgement based on just the facts as we have taken them in. Don’t over commit.  Use selfcare so that you can be someone who is being communicated with fully.  We have to put times in our lives that are just to wait and give the spirit of Truth the chance to candle our words. There is a joke that Quakers don’t sing the first verses of songs because we are trying to see if we agree with the song before we sing it.  That can go for more than songs.  If something doesn’t sit well with you, don’t do it. Trust your spirit of Truth to touch something in you to say, “That’s not right for me.”  Listening to our inward teacher has to become first nature to us.  Instead of reacting, stop and listen to your own voice.  If you aren’t sure what to do, sit with it as long as it takes.  Don’t let peer pressure alter your choices.  Be your own person and be a person of integrity.

So you see there are many ways in which being Friends of the Truth should and can fit our beliefs.  Let’s make it fit our lives as well, in public and in private.  We all have a long way to go to get to big T Truth, but if we are open and radically honest, we can make this name fit for us again.