Truth “springs from the earth” through meanings and values.
Meaning isn’t something to go in search of in a far away desert island so we can come back triumphantly proclaiming “I’ve found the meaning, I’ve found the meaning!”
Meaning is there all along in a potential state, beckoning and calling to us to redeem it from its abstractness and make it real. Love is an abstract value. Changing a baby’s diaper so it won’t suffer is a concretized value.
One of my favorite books is The Neverending Story. As the hero of the story begins to read he soon discovers the book is about himself! The book addresses him by name and talks about him as if he is a character in the story.
Similarly we are characters in the book of life. As long as the book is closed there is no story. As soon as we hear that we are addressed by life we write the story. The events surrounding us are rich with meaning potential as they provoke and invite us to emerge into the unique space of who we are meant to become through our interactions with the world.
As truth springs from the earth – values concretized through our actions – we ourselves spring forth from our earthiness. In transcending the inertia or the lies that hold us down we become the embodiment of that value.
The next question is: Since truths and values are hidden from view how can we find them at all?
One way is to ask Socratic questions, the kinds of questions that clarify what we really believe or allow us to see the same reality from a different perspective.
Another way is to pretend we’re someone else. Step out of the box of our limited perspective. Try on different clothing; assume the role of a different person. Learn to see from different perspectives. Even the simple act of crouching down to see how the world looks from a child’s point of view has a transformative effect.
Paradoxically by using our imagination and pretending “as if” we are seeing the world through different eyes brings us closer to the truth. This is because the truth filters through all the messages and all the perspectives. What are people saying? What are my bodily sensations, my emotions and my thoughts telling me? What echoes of memories from the past or dreams of the future does this present moment in time evoke?
After listening, evaluating and engaging in dialogue with all the “voices” the “I” decides.
As truths, values and meanings come to light we discover that their hidden-ness was our hidden-ness and their discovery comes through our own emergence.