Letter 1: The Journey

Hi. I am Joshua, and these are my letters. They are a summary of findings from my journey to discover and comprehend the truth about life’s great questions. In them I will present theories that, to my knowledge, have never been published. I hope you will enjoy.

 

Before diving in, I want to spend some time covering a few important concepts regarding the truth, because my experience is that many people don’t really know what the truth is. Let’s start by defining it.

 

The dictionary defines truth as “Reality. Things that are fact.” This is direct, but what does it mean? What is reality? What is fact? The dictionary defines these as “Reality - The world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them”; “Fact - A thing that is indisputably the case.” Combining these definitions yields: “Truth - The world or the state of things as they actually, indisputably exist. Not necessarily the way that they are perceived to be.” Straight forward, but I find it still missing something.

 

Many years back, I stumbled across a book from Mormon culture that contains a very interesting definition of truth. The book is called Doctrine and Covenants, and in it God is portrayed to be speaking and giving instruction. In the 93rd chapter, he gives his definition of truth as follows: “Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.”

 

Notice that this definition makes a critical distinction, that truth is “the knowledge of things…” rather than “the state of things…” Truth on any topic exists whether anyone knows it or not, but is there value in an unknown truth or only in its potential to be known? According to this definition, truth must be known in order to be “truth.” Interesting thought, and it leads us to the topic of discovery.

 

Discovery is defined in the dictionary as “The action or process of discovering or being discovered.” In other words, discovery is the process of learning something new and it happens to every person continually in one way or the other. The problem is that there is an overload of things to be discovered, more than anyone can possibly cover in a lifetime. Thus, if one hopes to discover the truth about life’s great questions, they have to be a seeker of such and a determined one at that. This is because truth by its very nature is a needle in a haystack, for it is singular while falsehood has infinite possibilities. In order to find truth, a process of identifying it is needed so that the seeker knows when they have found it and when you have not. This process I call the Circle of Truth.

 

One of the beautiful things about truth is that it is like a close-knit family where members stand with arms interwoven, forming an unbreakable circle of support for each other. Although each individual truth is singular, it is connected to other truths that are in turn connected to more. If the process of discovery is used to find a single truth and then continued to discover the surrounding truths, eventually the full circle is complete and the whole truth revealed. This is why something that is true can stand against all tests and challenges because no matter how deep you dig; all of the other surrounding truths will support it.

 

This leads to an obvious question however: How does one complete the Circle of Truth? Well, unfortunately, one doesn’t. Doing so requires the knowledge of all things, for anything less leaves the possibility that something undiscovered will arise and disprove what was thought to be true. This is why we have only theories in this life.

 

The final facet of truth I want to cover is that truth cannot change. A truth that changes was never a truth in the first place. If this were not the case, then there would be no way to ever arrive at the truth. It would be a moving target that would render useless any success in finding it, for one could not rely on it remaining true.

 

Fortunately, truth does not change and what I will present in these letters, although not the entire truth about our existence is unique and, I will show it to be well supported in the Circle of Truth.

 

Much more to come.

 

Until next time,

 

Joshua

Reviews

[Coffee Vampier]

Defiantly sharing this its worth the read.

[Victoria PoetryBunny]

A interesting journey here has started in The Joshua Letters. I like how you define things in this, the way you make it interesting how you speak of things. For me I love how you compare things for easier understanding. Just as you defined words, for the better understanding and your use of vocabulary. I love this part here how you compared things to see what you were talking about better:
"Thus, truth, by it’s very nature ends up being hidden like a proverbial needle in a hay stack… a very big haystack that is continually growing in size. Thus, if we don’t have an accurate means of identifying the truth, then we have a better chance of winning the lottery than we do at finding the truth amongst so many possibilities."

[Archia]

This is all really intriguing. My opinion on somethings is that there can never be the truth, that there never was and never will be. You have brought up some really interesting things like; like how there's a loop and how it can't ever change. Oh and also the Morman definition of truth, that's really interesting. All, in all, this is intriguing, interesting (and every other word like that). I've enjoyed this chapter so far, and I'm looking forward to the next.
Oh and also you sent me a read requests for some of the other chapters, but I'm the type of person that has to read from beginning to end or not at all, so I won't get to those ones for awhile.

[eatmills]

Well written. Very smooth. The truth you seek cannot be changed.

[MsMermaid]

I jumped into the middle of your letters. You sent read requests but I didn't know where to start because you did not number your chapters. This is essential because you are building something, starting from the beginning of your journey and where it lead you. Please number your chapters and tell us if you have an introduction. Perhaps this chapter is the intro or perhaps you don't have an intro. Now that I've found the beginning, I will continue to read the rest of your intriguing idea. I too was a truth seeker... born and raised Mormon... thought I had the truth that I would never leave. My journey put me on a path with God and out of organized religion. However I believe there is a need for people of like mind to come together. I just don't believe there is a need for religion in the formal sense of the word with ritual, ceremony, dogma, tenants, and elitism. God invented the variety we have here and loves it all, called it all "Good". I believe the "straight and narrow path" is a personal walk with God and one we can share, though there's no way to prove ones inner experience with God. If it is to be understood what we share, it must be experienced by those we share it with or it is unbelievable. The best we can do is live the truth we have discovered, which may lead to someone else discovering it as well.

[Zeek4]

I love your "voice" in this piece. You read very smoothly, and the logic of what you are discussing is very appealing.

[Coyote Poetry]

The beginning is amazing. I will come back tonight when the house is quiet and read the complete letters. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and skill. A excellent opening letter.
Coyote

[Livana Lowell]

Dear The Joshua Letters,

I already knew that when using a word like "truth" word plays was going to be tricky. I disagree. Truth and reality are connected indeed. However, reality changes because each of us has a different perspective, different perceptions of the world, and of these questions. Due to this being so, truth does change as well. Truth and reality are things a human mind is allowed to shape as it grows, learns, and comprehends. Life is for choices we are given that shape our ability to decide this. Reality is truth and truth is reality and reality changes because of the idea of perception therefore truth can change. However, I am speaking from a psychological point of view and you may stick to scientific as I read onward. If so, disregard my theory. You must decided on which point of view you are writing on.

I must emphasize on bibliography. You brought in the word Fact which can be defined as something proven. Basing your evidence on the mere word of a person makes the truth become nothing more than a myth or a groundless idea.

Once again, break the sentences up. This one is a mouthful, "f this facet of truth did not exist, then there would be no way to arrive at the truth for it would be a moving target that would render useless any success in finding truth because one could not thereafter rely on it remaining true."

I commend you on the relat-ability of this chapter by the imagrey placed in this chapter. I think you should do the same for the next one as well. I was able to relate to this quite well as truth is something I love to question and argue about.

Thank you for sharing.

Sincerely Livana Lowell (LL)

[i.am.cathartic]

you really know how to not give a straight answer and to make readers wanting for more. hehe i wish i have that kind of patience.

if i haven't written that first line in my review, i would have really commented some arguements and some agreeing adeas as much as contradictind ideas.

i really like these letters, though in my arguments i think they're a waste of time but since you're the one who's wasting that time for me. it couldn't get any better. :)

keep going Joshua. :D