‘There may not be one single incontrovertible Truth on which we can agree.’ Photo: Jelleke Vanooteghem / Unsplash.
‘I wonder if perhaps the problem lies in each of us having our own truth?’
Thought for the week: Deborah Jane is out of true
Recent issues of the Friend have caused me to think long and hard about Truth, and about what Love requires (Meeting for Sufferings report, 14 February). Martin Schweiger’s letter (7 February) spoke to my condition. For many years I have attempted to follow the advice of Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, on resolving differences: ‘Seek first to understand, and then to be understood.’ But I have found that, when perspectives differ fundamentally, the desire to achieve understanding through words may actually worsen divisions. I wonder if perhaps the problem lies in each of us having our own truth? There may not be one single incontrovertible Truth on which we can agree, despite our best intentions. In the 14 February issue, Clare Scott Booth describes the theme of reconciliation planned for Yearly Meeting Gathering as ‘how we talk through the hard stuff without blowing up’. This is exactly my problem.
