In other words, we want a story that fits with all the other stories we tell ourselves about the person or subject under consideration. We don’t want the messy big picture so much as we want coherence, because it is the coherence of these stories that we use to “make sense” of our world. Supported by that sense of coherence, we can then call our stories The Truth.
But when we open ourselves to the actual vastness of multifarious Truth, we find it much bigger and more complex than any one story could ever contain. That’s a hard reality to grow into. That’s why I think the ultimate truth in the universe may be “There’s more to it than that.” No matter what’s going on… no matter what we’re being told… no matter what we believe, it helps to remember that “There is more to it than that.”
Yes, we can be sure of that one truth in every circumstance — there’s always more to it….
Lately I’ve begun to wonder if Truth is, in fact, a fabric woven of many stories. Some of them are neat and tidy. Some look neat and tidy on the front, but are quite messy on the back, like tapestry. Many of them go on forever, and to be terribly connected to everything else. A disturbing number of them seem to contradict each other or to disturb our own favorite stories. It’s almost as if when things seem very simple, that’s a sign we’re not really keeping our eyes, minds and hearts open enough for more Truth to get in.
But there is a kind of sense-making that comes from opening ourselves up very wide — wide enough to include every story that comes along, or at least to allow it to participate in shaping the larger story that emerges in respectful conversation. But in the face of many hotly conflicting stories, I find it a real challenge to be that open — especially when my own dependable stories seem threatened.
Furthermore, I think that many seemingly divergent stories can only make sense together when we view them in good light, from a distance — or from very close, through our hearts. In order for this to happen, of course, these stories must be fully heard — which is quite rare nowadays. Sometimes healing or transformation happens simply because someone fully heard someone else’s story. Real listening seems to turn walls and battlements into doorways, paths, sometimes even glorious sky-wide sunrises….
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