Touchstones of Truths, Part II

This is Part II of a special three part series. 

Greetings once again.  Welcome to Part II of Touchstones of Truths. 

In Part I, we set the stage by acknowledging that seeking Truth was a lifelong journey and no one human being really apprehends the "whole truth."  Nevertheless, there are some observations of truths, I have glimpsed and am putting forth here.  We considered our first touchstone: "Hey, We're All Human." Today we will look at another touchstone.


Things Are Not Always Mutually Exclusive

I never enjoy those forced choice questions (‘Are you ice cream or cake?’)  Maybe both. Maybe ice cream one day and cake another.  And by the way, you forgot about pie!

I think first here of faith and science.  I suppose the main reason is that my late parents were great people of faith, but still were never afraid of nor rejected science.  Both had keen intellects and Mom, an elementary teacher, could be particularly succinct at times.  I remember as a grade schooler one day I complained about science class.  Her reply was (as nearly as I can remember): “Why? Science is just the world around you.”  Talk about reducing concepts to their essences!  So their examples may have influenced me not to reject either.

Further, not to get too personal, but throughout my life there have been some coincidences which I believe showed that there’s lots we still don’t understand nor can fully explain; something more. It’s also comforting to know I’m not alone in finding that faith and science are not mutually exclusive (full disclosure – I just happen to be Episcopalian).  I’ll take my cake with ice cream, thank you very much.

We’ve seen over time that barriers in many areas have been broken and this work is still continuing.  We’ve seen struggles to defy gender, racial, religious, gender preference/identity stereotypes. This is a struggle to not let surface characteristics preclude choices and aspirations; to break mutual exclusivity.

Breaking the idea that certain factors may be mutually exclusive can possibly help solve problems as well.  Some may think that concern for the environment and concern for jobs may be mutually exclusive or at least somewhat at odds.  However, in this article  (which I also linked to in another post), research is mentioned that is showing that, at least long-term, this is probably not the case.

Tomorrow: Third touchstone and conclusion

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