By Katy Mariotti

Searching For Truth

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6, English Standard Version

I just spent a great vacation week with my family in Washington DC.  We spent a lot of time in the vast array of museums that are there; my family loves a museum!

I had a realization early on in the vacation: even as children, we spend much of our lives searching for truth.  The very first place that we went was the National Archives, because I especially wanted to go in the rotunda that holds the actual Declaration of Independence and Constitution.  Before we got to that room, though, we saw many other exhibits, and we taught our children a new word: “facsimile.”  They were so excited to see the actual documents that they kept asking “is this the real one?” I’d point out that it was instead a facsimile: an exact copy.  It was exciting to finally get to the room holding the real thing (the picture of the Constitution included here today is the real one!)

The idea of what’s real struck me again when we went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  This museum has a balcony on the second level that looks over the center atrium.  I spent some time circling this balcony trying to lull a fussy baby to sleep, and I observed a strange phenomenon: in every alcove there were people staging photos to put on social media.  One had a tripod set up, one young lady had her mother take photos of her looking pensive, and a mother had her son taking pictures from multiple angles.  Were these people truly visiting the museum? Sure.  But were these staged photos truly capturing real moments?  I don’t know.

In an AI saturated world where we’re constantly questioning everything we see, I think we’re still looking for the truth.  Like my children, I want to know what’s real versus what’s a facsimile or a staged experience.  We are blessed with a God who sent His Son, who stated outright that HE is the truth.  How wonderful to find something we can trust in a world of questions.  We have real hope, real love, and real joy.  Amen!

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado