The Romantic Truth

I want to say something more about truth. Truth is a wellspring of life. It’s beautiful, inspiring, warm and yes even…romantic. (As in the romantic period of classical music which “attempted to increase emotional expression and power to describe deeper truths or human feelings.”) Truth was meant to bring fullness and aliveness…far beyond mere facts and answers and information. It was meant to be an interaction with all that is true in a way that enriches our lives. Truth is a well-written novel, a masterful piece of music, a compelling work of art. It’s powerfully gracious and graciously powerful, interweaving itself into the places of real life.

I have a good friend who embodies this idea of romantic truth. We first met at a retreat cabin in southern West Virginia surround by lamas and colorful trees. It was the beginning of a kindred spirit relationship that has grown for almost twenty-five years. Together we have sung around campfires, climbed Seneca rocks, hung out, rafted the New, listened to music, gone spelunking. He is a maverick in a wonderful way sort of way. One who is always pondering what the truth means in real life. I have patterned my own life after his in many ways.

A few years ago he and I sat on a porch swing together on a warm summer morning as the sun rose over the far ridge. We were talking that morning of many things – our children, the Green Letters, the dynamics of the Spirit-filled life and our slow progress in it. In that conversation he made a thought-provoking comment that has stayed me ever since. “I feel like all of my life I have known the words of the Christian life, but I’m just now beginning to hear the music”, he said. It summarized well this idea of how enriching the romantic truth was really meant to be.

Gatlinburg First United Methodist