What is Truth and How Can We Come to Know It?

Some of you know my little brother is on a mission in Portugal. He is loving it! He loves the people there. In his last email to the family he wrote this:

I don’t really have too much to say but I will share a spiritual thought. Lately as I have been studying the scriptures of the word of God I understood one of the many things Brother Christensen shares in his talk. I learned a bit about truth. The scriptures state, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). So if we know the truth it will set us free. That is why Satan doesn’t want people to find the truth. D&C 93:24 then reads, “And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.” So truth is consistent. As they are, were, and are to be. This relates to the plan of salvation and to the stages of live before, now, and after. Then we gain greater insight when we study John 14:6. It says, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life”. So we know that Satan is the father of all lies. And all truth is circumscribed into one great hole. That is it all comes from Christ. So when we know the plan of salvation and you know Christ. You are free. You see Christ is the truth when we know about Christ and His Fathers plan before this life, now, and after life; we are made free. At that point anything can happen as it did to Joseph Smith. But even after his death He was made free because he new the truth and it set him free. He didnt just know about Christ, he knew Christ. There is the difference. Let us not just learn about Christ but come to know Christ.

In response to his post I wrote:

I really like your insight. I've been thinking about truth a lot lately because I am taking a class called Qualitative Inquiry in which we have to give spiritual thoughts. The topic of truth has come up many times, especially now that I am doing my doctorate. I love that through our knowledge of Christ we can come to know truth. Christ is truth. One thing that I have come to understand a lot more in my life lately is that all truth is one. Spiritual truths, scholastic truths, personal truths, they all come together because Christ is truth. And like you said, if we get to know Christ we get to know truth. This has been true as I have progressed in my education here at BYU. The more I learn, the more I feel like I know Christ better. It doesn't just apply to spiritual truths but also to school. I am so grateful to know that in this crazy world where many people claim to say they know truth and where we as humans are limited in our knowledge of truth (because we are limited in our knowledge of God) that we can know that there is one truth, and that even though we don't know it because we don't know Him completely, we can get closer to it by knowing Him. I love that!

Reflections

It has been some time now since I returned from my trip to Mozambique. I no longer have dreams in Mozambique. Instead I know have dreams of being in Dr. Yanchar's class and learning about pragmatism and positivism. It's quite a difference from one world to the other. I still daydream about Mozambique and all the beautiful things I saw and experienced there. As I'm trying to make sense of life I often use my experience there to inform my philosophies and theories on life, teaching and learning.

Before I continue I would like to thank anyone who contributed to Care for Life as a donation for my birthday. I will continue to seek out ways to encourage people to donate to Care for Life.
Did you know Mozambique has the lowest life expectancy of all nations of the world—only 34 years? It is one of the poorest countries in the world, with over 80% of its people living in
“extreme poverty” (defined as under $1.00 a day). I often ponder these facts as I am on my way to the mall or to the store to get food. Anything you can donate can help alleviate someone's suffering.

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to tell people about Care for Life. How lucky we are that we can share our riches with those who are less fortunate! How lucky we are to be able to help. This experience changed my life. I can understand happiness better now.