Indulge me for a little bit. I have (wink wink) some ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING news to share with all of you.....
...Did you know that fully HALF of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardized tests?!!
...Did you know that 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users?!!
...Did you know that in the 1700s, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less that 50 years?!! That infant mortality rates were unacceptably high?!! That many women died in childbirth?!!
...Did you know that bread has been proven to be addictive?!! Subjects deprived of bread and being fed only water begged for bread after as little as two days!!
...Did you know that bread is often a "gateway" food item, leading the user to "harder" items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter, and even (shudder) cold cuts?!!
...And finally, did you know that most bread eaters are utterly unable to distinguish between significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical babbling?!!
You knew all of that, especially that last part? Well then maybe you won't campaign against bread use. Maybe you are able to tell the difference between news you can use and news purposely manufactured to sway your opinion, one way or the other. God knows we have plenty of the latter, from all shades of political and societal opinion, out there.....
Since we're talking about "bread," I am reminded of the Man who said, "I am the Bread of Life." I am reminded that He is the same Man and God who said, "I am the Way and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me."
So Jesus is the Truth, and He gives us the Spirit of Truth. How can we best work with the Spirit of Truth every day, to find what are the lesser truths, amidst all the information and pseudo-information flying about us these days?
Well, let us look at what the fruit (the end result) of having the Spirit, according to Galatians 5:22-23, is gaining the following: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Perhaps it's important to use these to help us figure out our earthly, "lesser" truths.
For example: "Self-control" allows us not to jump to conclusions after we hear a "factoid," but rather to ask around and look around at other (even opposite) views, and get a fuller picture. It takes "Patience" to take the time to do that. It is a "kindness" to check with the person or people themselves, if you've heard something negative about someone else, before one rushes to judgment. Love is the opposite of fear, so when someone tries to instill fear in us by manipulating "facts," we go to "God's love," and we remain "at peace" while "gently" explore an issue further. And, all the while, we keep remain "faithful," believing that God will take care of us no matter what, which allows us to feel "joyful" and still function in life in a "generous" fashion -- not letting fear paralyze us.
Such, I have found, is one Spirit-ual path to the Truth or truths of this life.
David Hewitt
