23 August 2012
Discussed Text: Gabriel Marcel, The Mystery of Being
Truth is basically becoming in accordance with reality, something that each and every person has the right to know no matter how bad it may hurt. In last Thursday’s class, I learned that truth is seen as a light, which can be interpreted in ways more than one.
Someone may see the truth as enlightening, illuminating, something beautiful, or something that will set oneself free. Without the truth, one might feel like he/she is tied up in chains or maybe there’s something that’s missing. Either way, knowing the truth or at least the need to know it, is innate to every single human being. However, since the truth is seen as a light, one may recognize it as being bright, too bright - sometimes bright enough for one to be blinded. Due to this, one may decide to not look directly at the light because it hurts one’s eyes and eventually, oneself.
We have to admit that most of the time, the truth does hurt. We have this tendency to build illusions that makes us deny the truth in order for us to be happy. For instance, a couple who are in a relationship that doesn’t seem to work out anymore. Both sides may feel that the “spark” is no longer there but since they have been through a lot together and they fear that they may never find a love as strong as what the had before, they end up just denying the problem and continue living in grief. Furthermore, this denial doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to only love - it can be a denial of opportunities in the future. For example, a very skillful engineer working in a very big and prestigious company is promoted to become the manager of the engineering department. The engineer denies that he is suitable to become the manager and eventually denies the job offer. Because of his denial, he ends up losing an opportunity that might have helped him a lot in the future.
There are also times when you know the truth about someone but refuse to tell him/her because you fear that he/she would get hurt. Sure, at first, this may work since in a way, you are protecting the that person from pain. In the end, you might realize that no matter how great you are in hiding the truth, it will catch up. When that someone finally finds out about the truth, it may hurt him/her a lot more than to begin with.
Honestly though, would you rather live life being blinded by the truth or just facing it head on? The truth, no matter how painful it may be, must be accepted by not only you but everyone else. The light may be too blinding for you but that’s just the way it is. I guess in the end, we just have to find the beauty in the light and the truth.
For some reason, the whole lecture reminded me of the song “There is a Light that Never Goes Out” by The Smiths. I guess this song can be related to this whole entry.
“To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.”
Seeing something beautiful in something as terrifying as death is somewhat similar to accepting the truth. Accepting and making the best out of the truth and what is currently happening should be the way to go - no matter how sad and painful it may be.
Wherever we are, whatever we do, the truth is unavoidable - a light that never goes out.
I agree. The truth is indeed often described as a light. It really illuminates us. But I have never heard of it described as blinding before. I guess it's quite new to me, and I agree. There really are times when the truth stares us straight in the face and we choose to turn away. Sometimes, the truth really is too frightening and painful to face.
ReplyDeleteLica Lee
PH101 C