by Dan Matheny

Created on: August 24, 2008

If I desire to go to Paris, and I am in the United States, I do not head west. While it is true that I will eventually get there, it is getter to head east. The same is true that the means to an end are as important as the end itself. Too often, our desire is to just get there, by whatever means. However, when we find, for whatever reason, that we don't just get there, then it becomes useful to reassess by what means we employed to arrive at where ever we are. I believe it was a Ziggy cartoon that had the caption, "When you are up to your ass in alligators, it's good to remember your original intention was to drain the swamp." And that is how it is, in dealing with the subject of truth vs. force. Truth is about getting to where you intended to go by utilizing the best choice of means. Force is about making something happen without realizing the means are not always the best. Something does happen, but if it is not what you intended, and you don't particularly like the results, then what possible reason would one have to continue in such a manner?

One might say that the truth is the result of a mature mind, while force is the result of childish thinking. Truth can be displayed in any number of ways: My brother was working on an engine problem I was having - a bad oil leak, I believe. After we opened the hood, and got our tools ready, he notices the front signal light wasn't working, and he replaced the bulb. Then he noticed a vacuum line was off and he reconnected that. I said to him, "Look, David, I thought you were going to fix the oil leak." To which, he replied, "Dan, if you can't fix the problem, fix the one right next to it." He did eventually fix the oil leak, but also fixed the ones next to it as well. That is the way of a mature mind, and one who has experience in the problem that he is working on. David had experience in mechanical problems, and I did not - I wanted him to fix the problem, but he knew that I would come back time and again with the other problems, and so he fixed those as well. I, being immature and short-sighted, wanted something done right away, and with as much directness as possible. David not only took care of all my problems with that truck, but he also taught me a lesson in maturity, and as it turns out, truth versus force.

Force, then is a short-term, more direct way of dealing with the problems of this life. A man, let's say, is insulted by another man. The insult is serious, or so it seems from his own perception. Therefore,

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