Not long ago I stood on some rocks and looked out over Lake Ontario, resting in the sights and sounds of the waves, wrapped up in a warm blanket, and bathed by a setting sun.  It was a precious time of becoming quiet before the God who made both me, a finite being, and those waves that stretched back to a seemingly endless horizon.  It was a rich communion of the Creator and his creation, and as I stood there, I knew who I was, and whose I was and I enjoyed the freedom of that knowledge. 

In that peace-filled space, another sound broke in on my thoughts – a distinct and gentle voice – asking me if I would be open to moving in directions and stepping into things I have not anticipated nor even thought of.  I didn’t know if it was a preparatory question or just exploratory, but I decided it didn’t matter.  What could I say?  Of course – yes – I would walk with him into whatever.  A quiet settling moment of agreement.

Three weeks later I sit here reflecting back on that moment, realizing the unfolding of that “yes” has just begun and yet it is already full, challenging, and very unsettling.  I have talked with many since that day and I am struck by how unclear the truth of who we are, and whose we are, has become to so many.  In fact, as it relates to truth, I have found that the very concept of “truth” is being challenged so that a question that escaped one man’s lips roughly 2000 years ago, still echoes loudly in our generation, “What is truth?”

And if truth itself can be in question, then our very identity is in question because if we cannot name what is truth, then we cannot name with any certainty the truth of who we are.   And if we cannot be sure about who we are, how can we know that we are being truly loved because love is never in question until the full truth of who we are challenges that love?  How many times have we said, “If they really knew me, they wouldn’t love me”?  This statement betrays that we long to be known and loved as we truly are. 

So truth, identity and love walk together.  We need truth in order to be certain of who we are and to know that we are being truly loved.  And that love needs to be rooted and fed by a truth that is secure, something that we can hang onto, something that isn’t going to change with the circumstances of life, or from one relationship to the next.  It needs to come from somewhere…really, someone, who is beyond us…who stands apart from us as a faithful and loving friend by whom we measure all things as true or not, especially who we are.

Are we open to being as welcoming of the words of another man who lived at the same time as the first man who asked “What is truth?” This second man named truth as a person, and he named God as love.  If we are open to this, not only can we know truth with certainty, but we can know who we are because we can know whose we are, and we can know that we are truly loved as we are.  Thus, truth, identity and love come together and our deepest longing is met.