What Does It Take...To Find "The Truth"? Part 2

And if not, are we honest enough to admit, openly - 'to one and all' - that the time, energy and sheer effort necessary, moreover the self-denial and sacrifice required, are all "just a bit much" for our (particular, personal) liking and inclination, and therefore we will stop short of the object of our quest, being content to come away with either a 'half-pie' answer or really no real solution to our quandary at all? Thus staying, to use the oft-cited cliche, permanently ensconced 'within our [personal] comfort zone', though kidding ourselves that we're really made of sterner stuff. And so remaining not really qualified, much less entitled, to share our 'two cents with' and/or download our ignorance upon one and all. As 'we', in our information-saturated - but wisdom-starved - 'everyone's an expert' (upon anything and everything), extremely opinionated society, have, I would contend - admittedly probably uncontroversially - tended to make somewhat of an art form of.

Again, as Mr Shakespeare is said to have said, that - indeed - is the question. An additional few millennia prior, the - reputably - 'wisest man who ever lived' put it in another, perhaps even better way. Though applying to the 'Book of Books', the 'Good Book', the Holy Bible, King Solomon, author of 'three thousand proverbs and one thousand and five songs' and immortalized in contemporary society care of the mines Walt Disney credits him with possessing, enjoins the reader/s of his 'Book of Proverbs' as follows: 
         
                                My son, if you receive my
                                    words,
                                And treasure my commands
                                    within you,
                               So that you incline your ear to
                                   wisdom,
                               And apply your heart to
                                   understanding;
                               Yes, if you cry out for
                                   discernment,
                               And lift up your voice for 
                                   understanding,
                              If you seek her as silver,
                              And search for her as for
                                  hidden  treasures;  
                              Then you will understand...
                                  ---------------
                              And find.....knowledge...*
                              (Proverbs 2: 1-5)
(*Borrowed with gratitude from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright 1982, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.)

But it all depends upon: firstly, recognizing both one's present (state of - relative) ignorance and one's great, even infinite need (for wisdom/truth etc); secondly, being willing to acknowledge and go to the only true, ultimate source of help - the 'Fount of all truth'; thirdly, approaching Said One in the right, acceptable way and manner; and fourthly, as has already been stated, being willing to expend the requisite time and energy, 'brawn and brain', i.e. truly loving the LORD 'with all one's heart, soul, strength and mind', i.e. enough to perseveringly and painstakingly seek His answers to whatever one's particular quandary may happen to be. Though I've - significantly and substantially - truncated verse five, without altering any of the words included, much less added in any others, the selfsame principle applied here to purely 'spiritual matters' I believe applies to anything or any pursuit worthwhile in life. To again (marginally) re-work, in this instance what Jesus Himself said, in two successive parables upon the one occasion: 

                 -----------------------------------------
                 [Truth] is like treasure hidden in
                  a field, which a man found and
                  hid; and for joy over it he goes
                  and sells all that he has and
                  buys that field.

Or,             -------------------------------
                  ---------like a merchant seek-
                  ing beautiful pearls,
                        who, when he had found
                   one pearl of great price, went
                  and sold all that he had and
                  bought it.**(Ibid.)
                  (Matthew 13: 44-46)
                             
***(Though the verses directly above refer to 'the kingdom of heaven', while the preceding passage specifies the worth of and hence the effort deserving the quest for 'the fear of [i.e. respect, reverence and awe pertaining to) the LORD' and 'the knowledge of God', both 'Wisdom', and, more pertinently here, 'Truth', whether personified or in the abstract, are 'objects' likewise extolled throughout especially the Older Testament 'Books of Wisdom', and so are relatively synonymous terms for the original wording and moreover the purposes of this discussion.)

Thus we see clearly the preciousness of and value inherent in 'the truth', and hence the tenacity, diligence and determination befitting, indeed warranted in expending upon, its pursuit.

Final  'Twist in the Tale' Wrap up (Conclusion) in Next Posting