Truth, an unimaginable thing of power and beauty

Herein lies the heart and soul of nations.
Their right to remain free men,
Their desire for peace,
Their courage to seek out truth.
Here lies the the Sword of Shannara.

Just finished reading the Sword of Shannara, some epic fantasy tale, the first book in a long series of 12 long stories, despite the fact the A levels are pretty close, and that I should reading my notes instead. Was thinking that truth sometimes, is both terrible, and beautiful. Truth given to some people, would destory entirely, to the point that sometimes they will never get their will back. Truth can also be an elegance in its own right, showing a unexpectedly differenct perspectives that you can never considered, possibly giving the object in light a symmetry that you might not have seen previously.

Truth therefore is just like the mythical double-edged sword of knowledge. Like any other aspect of swords, they come with it the power to defend, and the power to invade and destroy. There might come a time one day, or maybe in the past, that you have found the need the sheath this sword, cover its brilliance from lesser mortals, to prevent what might be devastating effects.

So often, we cloak ourselves in illusion, carefully craft walls around ourselves, that when the truth comes, we are left naked, heart and soul stripped bare. The phrase "without wax" or the word "sincere", comes from the Latin phrase "Sine Cera". Literally meaning without wax, Spanish Renaissance sculptures were patched with wax to cover their flaws. Hence, a sculpture that was authentic and flawless, would not need patching with wax, thus the term. It has come to mean sincerity, after all, we do not expect to be sincere if we hide ourselves behind walls.

We do not have to be flawless, to understand that the fact, and also to understand that most of us spend most our lives patching ourselves to appear flawless, is quite a heavy truth. A truth that alot of people will not survive the ordeal. However, if we do survive the ordeal, we find ourselves now suddenly capable of penetrating the illusions and masks put up by other people. To accept other people, we have to accept ourselves. With acceptance, comes the understanding. In turn, understanding begets trust. And trust with the basis that most of us are likely to build whatever relationships on.

So...have you accepted yourself in entirety?