TRUTH IS NOT RELATIVE BUT ELUSIVE

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Memorial August 9th

Judge not lest you be judged in turn,

Appearances cloud our view.

We guess at the truth, but only learn

God alone knows what is true.

- Edith Stein, Selected Writings

St. Edith Stein, Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, O.C.D., wrote this reflection on the words of Jesus Christ who commanded His disciples not to judge anyone. She ends with a statement that pervades much of her thought about finite and eternal being. We cannot judge another because our minds are clouded by appearances, only God, who is omniscient, has the right to judge anyone --- and He is also just. However, the last two lines of this statement can have a wider application. One that is very pertinent to our age.

At one time many people believed everything they read in the newspapers. Gradually, their trust was eroded until most people today are somewhat skeptical about much that is in print. That is not to say that papers and magazines are without influence, quite the contrary, but, at least, people question what they read more frequently.

There is another danger, however, much more insidious, because it strikes at one of the fundamental ways that human beings gain knowledge. We have the old adage Seeing is believing and whether anyone is willing to admit it, this saying tends to stick, no matter how educated or intelligent a person may be. When viewers see a newscast with film footage of something happening at that exact moment, something they can see with their very own eyes, it has the effect of bringing the viewer right at the scene. The impression given is that the camera acts only as a lens for the eyes of the viewer. It is an inanimate object that can't lie. Consequently, people make personal judgments on what they feel that they have seen with their eyes and heard with their ears. How many times in the last few decades have we heard a newscaster warn: The world is watching! In some cases this warning is completely justified. But there is another factor to consider. There is a journalist behind that camera who acts in much the same way as an artist who puts on canvas his view of the world (or at least part of it). The artist wants the people looking at his work to see what he sees and to appreciate what he finds worth while.

Elizabeth Bishop said, The eye cannot see what the mind is unable to perceive. But is it not accurate to say that the mind is often held captive by the heart? When people adhere to a certain creed or ideology --- for good or ill, can they not become so passionate about it that it captivates their whole being? Edith Stein was a victim of such a system where at least some of the individuals who adhered to that system held that Jews were evil and therefore had to be exterminated --- that was the Nazi final solution. But it was a misconception, a perversion, that made them think and see what their hearts dictated to their eyes and to their minds. Nazism isn't so long ago and far away that we can dismiss it as some aberration of a primitive society that modern man is too noble to imitate. Vigilance as well as humility is imperative. A humility that recognizes that human beings constantly have to remind themselves as Edith Stein did, that:

Appearances cloud our view,

We guess at the truth, but only learn

God alone knows what is true.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Community, OCDS - Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Hudson, NH