Fellow Rotarians and Honored guests
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
In our first segment of the Four-Way Test, we examine: “Is it the Truth?”
Truth is: the truth is a bit of an enigma, a perception. Not all truths are the same. We all may say, “We saw that tall blond woman with the tight skirt walk down the steps into the law offices.” However, Mrs. Brown said, “It was a tall hippy man with blond hair and tight jeans.” Joe Green over there says, “It was a woman with horn rimed glasses in a tight business suit and she went up the steps.” Yet the truth may be, that it’s just a male friend of yours ... in drag. So everyone has their truths.
But what is the truth?
The truth is a consensus of opinions. Right? … Wrong
The truth is the difference between right and wrong. Right? … Wrong.
The truth is written by the journalist who writes the best prose. Right? … Wrong.
For instance, sometimes history was subjugated by the ugly fact that it was the books that actually survived the burnings that were left to tell the story. Whether they told the truth or not.
Film Maker Walt Disney always said. “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” Yet a lot of us learned some of our history from movies made by Disney. Then of course playwright David Mamet said. “It's only words ... unless they're true.”
Our fellow Rotarian Judge Lance Ito, may have an insight into what is the truth, but for us mere mortals things are different. Surprising as this may seem, there is no single definition of “truth” about which the majority of philosophers agree. Various theories of truth commonly involving different definitions of "truth" continue to be debated.
So, “Is it the Truth?” we are asked, in this first test of the Rotary Four-Way Test.
It summons us Rotarians to be people who rise far above the great masses and live and practice with integrity and good ethics, as well as values, principles, morals and decency. To take the trouble to learn all the facts and evidence of an issue before we make up our minds on an emotional or an ego based level.
In other words, take the lead as the individual thinking people that we all are and rise above the corruption that surrounds us. To make sense of all sides of an issue rather than follow a doctrine or a dogma called for by politics, religion, society, culture or the gang mentality. But to make up our own minds and follow our own integrity and our own … soul.
As we all know, we are not sheep. We don't follow like sheep. Rotarians go beyond the horizon on issues and stand up for what is right in the world.
England’s great wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill, once said: “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”
While Philosopher Gabriel Marcel once dug deep inside himself and told us:
“I am obliged to bear witness, because I hold … as it were … a particle of light, and to keep it to myself would be the equivalent of extinguishing it.”
Fellow Rotarians, the Rotary Four-Way Test simply asks of the story … that is our life …
“Is it the Truth?”
I asked at the beginning “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”
Well, as we see the real truth is: but a perception, an enigma, a mystery, a bit of a puzzle.
It’s really up to your own integrity and self-respect, accountability and honesty to state the facts. So all Rotary can ask of another is to go beyond and make a difference, inspire others to do the right thing, and do the Rotary thing by changing the world into a better place … one person at a time.
Thank you
