35. Truth and Reality

Have you ever confused reality with imagination? Have you ever gone so deep into a dream or thought or chain of logic that the pure fact and the stable reality become a blur?

Several times when I read the Bible I find something extremely edifying, and it's such a wonderful feeling. Recently, I had dreams where I'm reading the Bible, and I find something interesting, and I keep thinking and marveling about it. I get the "feeling" I get when I actually read something awesome in the Bible, but it's not real--I'm not actually reading something from the real Bible.

Sometimes, my mom gets mad because I say something or because something happens. She'll keep repeating what I said or what happened, but the more she thinks about it and the more she retells what happens, it seems what originally happened gets twisted and blurred. Details that did not occur suddenly become part of what enrages her even more. The more she thinks about it, the farther away from reality it becomes. The more she thinks about it, the more furious she gets.

Of course, I should not see this entry as a chance to complain about someone I love. Rather, it is to make a point.

During sermon interpretation, sometimes the message slightly deviates from what the speaker is actually saying - either on purpose or not. For example, if the speaker says, "I'm pretty sure every one of us has or has had a problem with living by faith and not by sight," we might get an interpretation like, "Some of us might have had a problem with living by faith and not by sight before." Not the same meaning, but close. And from the not so close interpretation, can come different reactions. A person who hears the former might think, "Yea, I guess I have... I will keep listening to see how I can improve," but a person who hears the latter might think, "Oh, some of us? I'm probably not in that minority. But I think I might know some people who are like that."

Another example: Say five of us agree to pray 15 minutes after lunch on Saturdays for missionary work in Africa. However, we actually end up doing it 1 or 2 times every month because we sometimes have to go to a meeting, talk with someone, or do other things. And not all five of us show up every time. Then, in a conversation about missionary work in Africa, I tell someone that the five of us pray 15 minutes after lunch on Saturdays. Is that accurate? Of course we try to do that, but in reality, we don't do it every Saturday. Acceptable accuracy would be that we "try" to pray 15 minutes every week. However, to say that we actually do, that would not be factual, right?

How important is it to insist on factual accuracy? Are there hidden motives when we do not give an accurate picture of things? When we respond in a way as to give others a wrong impression of reality, is that deception? We know that every careless word we say will be judged (Mt 12:36). Our minds twist things up, our imagination distorts reality. However, one thing will never change: the words of God. The words of God are truth. The words of God are absolute. Let us aim to live by this truth and be perfect.