Saturday 26 April 2014

Bitter.

Plant growing wild outside demolished old villa 2014 
The truth is a bitter root, that must be hunted for. There are clues here and there as to where we may find it. We must use all our senses. Look for signs in the shapes of leaves, or how thickly they grow. Listen to the sounds of birds that tell us something is here. Or the sounds of silence that tell us something is so fearful that few dare venture near it.

We can feel for it with our hands. It may be dry and crumble between our fingers. It may stick stubbornly, or leave a mark that is hard to wipe off. Breathe it in, and see if it chokes us, or nourishes us. We must beware if it tastes too pleasant.

Because the truth is rarely pleasant. It is bitter, and indeed quite fearful. We may leave it where it is, for others to find. Or we may choose to make the terrifying effort of digging it up. If we do, we must not throw it away. Unpleasant as it may seem, we hold something infinitely valuable in our hands. But even if we do choose to throw it away, it will not matter. We can cast it aside, crush it underfoot, even burn it. But we will never kill it. The truth can be silenced, suffocated, ignored, executed, and voted out of our existence. It does not die. It remains what it is, and it will surface again and again, whether or not we acknowledge it.

If we nurture it and nourish it, it will do the same for us, and for all the generations to come. It will be bitter, and may cause us some pain. It will be worth it.

Do you have a truth? Has it come to you too easily? Without questions or doubts or investigations? Without pain or fear or bewilderment? There is no "your" or "my" truth. Wherever there is a truth, it can only be one. Have you found it? I am still looking.

9 comments:

Barb Schanel said...

Indeed, the truth my family is working and living for and with is a bitter one, but in our work and life with this truth we find great joy!

Without Shadow said...

Barb I think you are my most dedicated reader!! But I want everyone who reads here to know that you have some great blogs yourself! Hope people will hop across and see them! I just visited Mrs Butterwirth and I absolutely LOVED the latest post! A lovely story told so well, and Mrs Butterwirth really does have an eye for all the beauties of nature we sometimes miss! It felt like reading a lovely children's picture book. All I missed was turning the pages.

Barb Schanel said...

Thanks so much Nazneen, I hope someday we may meet in a more personal medium!

hopy said...

Are you still looking for his hopes for himself, right? you say that will nurture it and make it the same as us and for all future generations, will be much harder happens, ...... looking for something that we are looking for long this. I agree with you.

Shivani Singh said...

Read and re read. Then thoughts. Truth...always bitter and yes that is the case. But what bewilders me how can one person's truth be another person's lie. i wish u were sitting near and i can take a situation and explain it to you. Truth is truth...people have angles of looking at it. Sometimes they are not lying even and i've come to realize this after all these years. It's their 'soch' their thought process that makes them see things as they see it. So the truth appears to them the way they see it. i hope u can get my point. Wish you could also stop by at my post...sometime...onetime...at least...and say something.
Sensitive and genuine that u r i would love some words from you. :)

Johanna Ellen said...

That is very nice.I just stumbled across your blog and that struck me as beautiful.

happy wheels said...

you say that will nurture it and make it the same as us and for all future generations, will be much harder happens, ...... looking for something that we are looking for long this. I agree with you.

cool math a-z said...

Truth is truth...people have angles of looking at it. Sometimes they are not lying even and i've come to realize this after all these years. It's their 'soch' their thought process that makes them see things as they see it.

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