“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you…”

We have all heard that phrase. But is it really possible to do it? Does anyone really know the “whole truth and nothing but the truth”?

I have had some experience when I was younger with a religious order. When you entered their doors, you were ushered into “the truth”. Everything you were told was the absolute truth and anything outside of it was not. I found this rather difficult to live with, but I tried. When I questioned things, I was made to turn back to “the truth”. When I doubted, I had drifted away from “the truth”. What I finally came to realize was that “the truth” was a very narrow, shallow pool in which I could not remain.

My spirit could not be limited by others’ definitions of “truth”. I needed to find my own truth. I needed to figure out why that limited view did not fit me. The sheer fact that I had entered that place with the idea that sometimes truth can be an individual thing and other times that it was far bigger then just what I was being told, created a great deal of trouble for me. I did not fit in there any better then I had fit in anywhere else.

The one thing that I can say was that one “proclaimer” of “the truth” made a statement that no one should be affiliated with any one religious group. Why would one of their own say such a thing? Whatever his reason, it started me thinking for myself again. In his way, he helped to set me free to look once again for my own truths.

I refuse to be associated with any single religion. I do not believe that any one religion has the “complete” truth. I choose to accept all truths, regardless of where they may be. I now believe that the great truths are scattered, like a puzzle with pieces all over the world and perhaps the universe. These little pieces were the seeds for the many religions. No one has all of the pieces; therefore, no one has the entire truth.

Only by accepting all of the pieces and looking at them together, apart from their current places of existence, can we begin to see the larger truths that so well evade the human race. No one group has the full truth; the complete answer. Like the blind men and the elephant, each sees only that with which he has contact.

As human beings, we each need to take responsibility for finding our own truths. If we never look beyond the walls of our home, how do we know what the world outside looks like? If we have no idea what the truth is, how can we tell others so surely that we do?

In this journey called life, we have the opportunity, especially in this modern age, to find out more information. We have access to a myriad of books, web pages, television programs, radio broadcasts; information abounds. We have no excuse to limit our view to a small area when we know that a whole world exists beyond us.

Anyone can claim to know the truth. Many have made a living of telling others that theirs is THE truth. Many souls have left these individuals more thirsty then when they entered their doors. We cannot place the responsibility of our hearts and souls in the hands of others who have yet to find their own meanings. We must “work out our own salvation…”

Imagine if all the pieces of that great puzzle were to come together in one place. Imagine if people actually saw it as a great truth. What would become of the world?

Right now, it is not a likely scenario. That does not stop each of us, individually, from seeking out what truth we may find. Do not depend on someone else to tell you what the truth is for you. Do not discount something just because it does not come from where you think it should. For in this world today, truth IS where you find it.