Thoughts from Jon Foreman

Here are some quotes from Jon Foreman's article, "Possessed by Truth" in the Huffington Post.


"To be possessed by truth rather than the other way round is a thought that goes against much of what I have been taught. In fact, most of my education has been presented as a growing accumulation of truth."
--This is our society, period. We are taught facts and practicality to control the duration of our lives. We are taught sustainability in our careers to promote the idea that one day, we can retire and have a break and enjoy life. We start with education to cultivate our growing knowledge, our practical states of living, our career options, our interests... its for self-ownership and the ownership of things we can attain. The idea of being possessed by truth--of being submerged and completely wrapped in something far bigger than us is both romantic and religious. However, even religion limits us from being completely absorbed in beautiful truth: religion still has a control mechanism that squashes individuality in its own defense. Like Foreman, I feel that being possessed by truth is very much against what I've been taught. My formal education, religious education, moral education is all based on knowing a set truth and defending it. But it's not possible. I am/we are absolutely incapable of knowing and possessing truth. It's too big, too abstract, too spiritual and other-worldly.

"If I view the truth as my possession to keep safe, I might feel the need to protect my faith. But if I am possessed by the truth, perhaps this protection is no longer needed. Maybe I am set free from the need to defend the truth, rather the truth defends me."
--Just like religion develops a defensive, protective tension, I love that Foreman characterizes truth as something that doesn't need defending by humans. Truth is in fact so large that our defending or explaining it only belittles truth. And think about it: sometimes, we have those little epiphanies--little moments of truth that explode in our head to make us see something in a different light. That truth might be a darker shade of gray or it could be a screaming, shining yellow. These moments occur internally and to orally explain them isn't pointless, but truth has to penetrate our moral fiber, our learned mental processing. And we need to embrace truth as liberation because truth embraces us as a limitless blanket. (I hope that makes sense.)

"If our faith is to be more than just a lit match in the powder-keg of differing beliefs, what role does religion play in our modern world? What would it mean to be possessed by truth rather than simply the proud owner of a particular denomination?"
--I'll let this speak for itself. Just imagine me with a big smile and nod of agreement. Or imagine me giving Jon Foreman a huge hug, I mean...that would be cool, too.