{"id":22045,"date":"2023-01-19T09:53:19","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T14:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=22045"},"modified":"2023-01-19T09:59:34","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T14:59:34","slug":"love-speaks-the-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=22045","title":{"rendered":"Love Speaks the Truth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Casting Crowns - Voice of Truth (Official Lyric Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9cKm_mYVPQE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Truth-telling can be a very difficult journey on the way to freedom.<br>\u2014Jacqui Lewis, <em>Fierce Love<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>CAC friend Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis writes about the ways both prophetic and personal truth-telling challenge us and the systems to which we belong:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In my faith tradition we call that <em>speaking the truth\u2014in love<\/em>. As a clergyperson, I have many truth-telling strategies. Sometimes I\u2019m gentle, needing to take good care of the one who is listening. Sometimes I\u2019ve got my fists in the air while marching for the truth, for justice and liberation. <strong>Always my intention is to free up the energy that\u2019s caught in the story, to liberate myself and the other with whom I\u2019m in relationship to find a way forward.<\/strong> Can we win this action? Will the politician change policy or give in to demands?<strong> Will the congregant or colleague hear my point of view, and can I hear theirs?<\/strong> Can I change the story in the public square in a compelling way and open eyes, hearts, and minds to new worldviews? Will [my husband] John and I become stronger because of this difficult talk? <strong>Telling the truth is an act of love, an act of resistance, an act of courage. Its end is liberation, freedom, and, if possible, reconciliation. But there can be no reconciliation without truth.\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The historian Howard Zinn wrote, <strong>\u201cThe most revolutionary act one can engage in is [\u2026] to tell the truth.\u201d [1] Indeed! I think the revolutionary part of truth is that it can free us and those around us to live with greater certainty about what is real, even when it hurts, because we are no longer shackled to the energy lying requires of us.<\/strong> Lying demands the continuation of the lie and the amplification of the lie to keep the truth hidden.\u2026 Telling the truth creates ripples of authenticity that change the world.\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I believe truth is revolutionary; it\u2019s part of the work of fierce love. Truth makes a personal, spiritual, ethical, and moral demand upon us. It wants to be said, known, told. It hurts and it\u2019s inconvenient, but it\u2019s essential to our well-being. It cleanses our spiritual palate and restores our souls<\/strong>. Truth is a drink of water to a parched traveler. It lubricates relationships. It liberates us from bondage. It builds trust and connections. It\u2019s the beginning of authentic living and joy. Truth eludes us at times, and we have to pursue it. <strong>Truth invites us to be honest about who we are, about our flawed-but-beautiful, broken-but-healing selves. Truth leads to reconciliation and peace; without truth, there is no peace.<\/strong> In the light of truth, we are able to honor our journey and love ourselves. <strong>Truth-telling is a spiritual discipline that requires practice. We must not lie to others and, as Fyodor Dostoevsky suggested, we mustn\u2019t lie to ourselves.<\/strong> Being honest with ourselves <em>about <\/em>ourselves is to love ourselves unconditionally, to love ourselves fiercely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>_____________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarah Young<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Seek My face and you will find more than you ever thought possible. Let Me displace worry at the center of your being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Surrender, connect and live out of that by expanding your focus to include Me in all your moments, and experience peace that passes understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Psalm 27:8 My heart says of you, \u201cSeek his face!\u201d Your face, Lord, I will seek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Truth-telling can be a very difficult journey on the way to freedom.\u2014Jacqui Lewis, Fierce Love CAC friend Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis writes about the ways both prophetic and personal truth-telling challenge us and the systems to which we belong: In my faith tradition we call that speaking the truth\u2014in love. As a clergyperson, I have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22045"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22045"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22051,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22045\/revisions\/22051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}