Winning Words 4/2/13
“Just the facts, Ma’am!”  (Sgt. Joe Friday)  TV’s “Dragnet” star, Jack Webb, was born on April 2.  As a police detective, he was always looking for facts to help solve cases.  Some philosophers suggest that there are no facts, that truth is fluid.  One of my professors said, “You can’t put God in a bottle.”  Much has been made of the Higgs boson (God particle).  Does that “fact” obviate “faith?”  Think about it.    ;-)  Jack

  FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  so... where did the god particle originate? god is a scientist. most scientists believe. ////JACK:  If the God particle is a fact, does that make God a fact?////LIZ:  well, somethin's a fact, that's for sure!////JACK:  Are you sure?  Is anything really real?

 FROM WALMART REV:  Seemingly to me, the Word of God is full of historical fact of mankind being tempted of making God an all-inclusive God, laying aside the fact that His not and that He presents blessings and curses to the contrary. From the Garden of Genesis to the Throne of Revelation I find  from within an impulse to stay "with just the facts, Ma'am! Just the facts!"////JACK:  Is the WORD OF GOD to be seen as a "fact" or a "faith statement"...or both?  You seem to be saying, both!////REV:  I believe it says "without faith" it is impossible to believe its authenticity... but because of my faith in the Word of God, I believe it to be fact...would that be a paradox?////JACK:  If it were all fact, there would be no faith.

 FROM HONEST JOHN:  Facts come after assumptions...check out math...the assumptions are the grounds for debate...all too often we are trapped because we fail to challenge the assumptions.////JACK:  As one skilled in debate, you should be able to defend both sides of the God question.  As a person of faith, would you be able to do that?  That's a rhetorical question.  Ultimately, is God debatable?////JOHN:  The God question is debatable for Agnostics

 FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  Alright, I'll bite on this one!
The "truth" is distinct from our impression of it (perspective, belief, reality). The Truth is the Truth regardless of what I might say, think, see, or feel, about it. One critical way towards acquiring some "parts" of the Truth is through the removal of that which is not true (what I might say, think, see, or feel, about it). Jesus said this very thing in His directive to us to "remove the beam from thine own eye". Our realities, perspectives, beliefs, knowledge, and the like, are flawed by our limited capacities to obtain all of the relative information. In turn, they serve as blockages to the recognition of what is Truth.
The Truth is by its nature "all things" or we could say that the Truth is all inclusive ---nothing left out. Thus, the Truth remains elusive to us who do not know "all things"; BUT the Truth is NOT fluid at all. One who thinks that it is relative or fluid is soooo far from the Truth that the state of being confused would be an enormous improvement. Such a misstatement presumes that the Truth is relative to "their" own blindness and apply their narcissism as a source for obviating their own flaws. If anything need be obviated, it is man's belief that he can be divine enough to know the Truth. Seek first the kingdom of God...and do so with all of thy mind, and all of thy heart, and all of thy soul....and only then is one prepared to even catch a glimpse of the Truth.
For these reasons, Faith is the most obvious and necessary result; for our first step towards Truth is always into the unknown and unseen...and it is in Faith that we then move.////JACK:  Since we are humanly limited from gathering "all" of the facts, we are also limited from knowing the whole Truth.  We must be content to know what we know, or think we know...and proceed from there in our search for The Truth.  That's where faith comes into the picture.////RAY:  EXACTLY!!!!

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Jesus is the Truth!////JACK:  Do you you think Pilate wanted an answer, when he said, "What is truth?"////JUDY:  Yep, it would have made his decision for him.  But, most people can't handle the truth...even us sometimes.

 FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  Facts are facts, and that's a fact. They're also a truth and that's the truth.////JACK:  There's also sense and non-sense.

 FROM AW IN ILLINOIS:  Dragnet will soon be rerun on ME channel in Decatur.  Thats a fact. ////JACK:  I can hear the theme music in my head.