The Spirit of Truth

The Spirit of Truth  

John 14:15-21 CEB; Poem 185 by Emily Dickinson        

A meditation delivered electronically by Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer, May 17, 2020

In today’s reading from John, one of the “pre-Pentecost” Lectionary passages that serves to anticipate the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, John quotes Jesus as having promised to send to the disciples a Comforter or Companion to be with them and guide them into the future.  And Jesus refers to this Comforter or Companion as “the Spirit of Truth” (14:17). One of the functions of this “Spirit of Truth” would be to help Jesus’ followers discern spiritual truth; the truth about God and matters of faith.

Well, if there is one thing the world needed then and the world needs now, it is help in discerning the truth.  Wouldn’t you agree?  Religious truth – any kind of truth, for that matter – can be downright slippery, elusive, and deceptive.  We don’t have time to talk about all the atrocities and inhumanities to man that have been committed in the name of “religious truth.”

The question that Pilate posed to Jesus is the eternal question crying out for an answer: “What is truth?”

For some weeks now, we have longed for the truth, have we not, as we have been bombarded with news reports – often conflicting news reports – from the White House, the Center for Disease Control, America’s governors and mayors, and others regarding the coronavirus, how it is spread, what we should do to avoid it, how many will die because of it, how we should treat it, how long it will last, and so on.  At times we have not known what to believe and what is really the truth. The truth, it seems like, changes depending upon whom you are listening to.  And even from the same person, what was proclaimed as truth three months ago, one month ago, or even one week ago might be proclaimed to be just the opposite today.  What is truth?

By chance, or by providence, depending upon how you look at it, I read a few days ago a delightful and insightful story that 13^th century poet Rumi told that has now become a classic tale.  The story is about five men who were led, one-by-one, into a dark room where stood an elephant.  None of them had ever encountered or seen an elephant before.  After coming back out of the dark room, each of them was asked to describe the creature they had encountered.

One was able to feel the elephant’s trunk, so he described it as “A water-pipe kind of creature.”

Another touched the ear, and he described it as “A very strong, always moving back and forth, fan animal.”

A third man felt only a leg.  “I find it still, like a column on a temple,” he said.

Another touched the elephant’s curved back and described it as “A leathery throne.”

Another felt the tusk, so he described the creature as “A rounded sword made of porcelain.”

Thus, each man described the elephant he handled in the dark and arrived at “the truth” based upon his limited experience in the dark.  And then Rumi concludes, “If each of us held a candle there, and if we went in together, we could see it.”¹

It seems to me that Rumi’s parable has something to say to us as we continue to face the current crisis: In order to make sense of, overcome that which has bewildered the whole world, and arrive at the truth, it is going to take everyone working together – everyone holding our candle high, as it were, in harmony and in consideration for all others. 

And we know that “praying the virus away” doesn’t work either, as some have proposed, like the Virginia pastor who claimed God can cure anything and then went to New Orleans to minister and then died of COVID 19 himself.

As Emily Dickinson reminded us, faith is a fine thing to have.  Faith has its place.  Faith gives us strength and courage and perseverance to face each day and the challenges each day presents. But sometimes you also need to rely upon a microscope and enlightened scientific observation and facts. Just as faith has its place, so do scientific truth and indisputable facts.  We shouldn’t naively throw out science and scientific truth for faith’s sake, expecting faith to do something it is not meant to do.

“The Spirit of Truth”?  Yes, Jesus, give it to us – please! If we ever needed the spirit of truth, and if we ever needed to be open to the spirit of truth, it is now.  But as we continue to face the challenges before us, may the “Spirit of Truth” that we so desperately seek include reason and scientific facts; because they are of God too. Amen.

¹Rumi, “Elephant in the Dark.”