Posted by
Matt12 on Sunday, March 01, 2009 2:14:00 AM
The title for this blog is taken from a poem by Emily Dickinson, the American poet, that Belle of Amhurst, who lived from 1830 to 1886. Here's the full text:
Tell all the Truth but tell it Slant -
Success in circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As lightening to the children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
or every man be blind.
Although I understand exactly what she was getting at, in this blog there will be no attempt to sugarcoat the truth - or to feed it to you, the reader, in small, easily palatable doses so as not to offend your sensibilities. Instead, I will assume that people who read what I write here are quite capable of handling the Truth, no matter what form it takes, or no matter how hard it might be to see or to digest.
Man has been struggling with Truth for centuries; not only to discern it but to tell it, since at least that time, 2000 years ago, when Pontius Pilate put the question to Jesus before turning him over to his Jewish brethren to be scourged and crucified; "Truth? What is Truth?" For my purposes I like and therefore will use this definition - Truth is that which conforms to reality. It's my aim to establish a blog to which people may refer when searching for information about the current pope or the papacy as an institution, or the Vatican as a political entity.
Enjoy!