Life is much simpler when everything can fit neatly into one box or another. But life is often much more complicated than this and we must learn to appreciate the reality of double truths.
We often approach life like a True or False test. And even when we allow for multiple choices, we still tend to assume there’s only one right choice.
But life is not this simple and multiple things can be true at the same time.
For instance, loving others doesn’t mean we have to neglect ourselves. We love others and ourselves at the same time.
And loving others doesn’t mean we just tell them what they want to hear. We can accept them for who they are while still holding them accountable to ultimate standards of truth and goodness.
Likewise, we can be mad at our wife and still love her deeply. Our anger doesn’t mean we stop loving her. And our love doesn’t mean we never get angry.
Time and again, and in many different ways, these double truths exist throughout our life and relationships.
And they often function like two sides of the same story.
One side alone remains incomplete, however true it might be. We need the truth of both sides to appreciate the story in its full.
But, of course, this makes life more complicated as we must often hold the tension of things which seem to contradict each other.
It takes increasing maturity to transcend the paradoxes of life and not get stuck trying to force everything into neat black or white boxes.
And the more we can hold to double truths the more we can see the fullness of reality and do our part to bring more life and goodness into the world.
In the end, allow for multiple things to be true at the same time. These double truths allow you to engage in your life and relationships with the wisdom and complexity needed to thrive.
Photo by Dieter Pelz on Unsplash
