Can You See The Elephant?....

 

 

 In Search of Truth 

                                                                                                    

On a trip with my dad to Southern Utah, land of monumental rock formations, he pointed up to one of the majestic sandy red formations and asked, Can you see the elephant?   It took of bit of squinting and searching but I eventually saw the form of an elephant hidden in the face of the rock.  It was a magical moment.

So much of what we see in life is assumption--a rock is just a rock--but when we look carefully and focus on small details, we find hidden truths.

Finding our spiritual path can hold similar impediments:

It seems to be part of our nature as human beings to make assumptions...based on our incomplete and often misleading experience....(or) jumping to conclusions based on limited information.

When our own view of "truth" is challenged, we often jump to the conclusion that the other person is "misinformed, mentally challenged, or even intentionally trying to deceive."  The thing about truth is that it exists beyond belief.  It is true even if nobody believes it.

The invitation to trust the Lord does not relieve us from the responsibility to know for ourselves.  This is more than an opportunity; it is an obligation. 

                                                                                                 (President Dieter F. Uchdorf at a Jan. 2013 CES Fireside.)

 

Would this not also apply to the path to better physical health?

In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan writes:

Ignorance is not bliss, at least not if you are a person who cares about the health of your body and your world.  It's always better to know more rather than less, even when that knowledge complicates your life.

Such knowledge may seem as large and obscure as the shape of an elephant in a rock but vastly more important to find.  

And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
                                             (John 8:32)