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As we head into the depths of winter I am always reminded of that in other parts of the world, people are experiencing the height of summer. Indeed, it is possible that some of you reading this are in those locations. How often do those of us in the United States center ourselves as the arbiters of what is going on in the world? How often do we as individuals center ourselves as the arbiters of truth?

Sometimes it takes us a moment of silence to realize that our “truth” is not the only truth. Our long nights of winter are an apt time to reflect on what we hold as both universal truths, as well as our own personal truths. Our Universalist heritage says that our universal truth is that we are all worthy of love. That we create a heaven on earth by loving each other and finding our shared humanity. What other universal truths do you find in our UU faith? Are they truly universal?

One of my personal truths is that I know that lived experience produces many truths. It is one of the hardest concepts we teach our children. This graphic helped me explain it to children, because they could see that for each perspective that person was correct.

What are some of your own personal truths? Are they true for you and/or are they universal? Do you value only those truths you have experienced? What do you do when someone else has a different perspective which makes their truth the one that needs to be centered? These long winter nights (or summer days!) are a good time to reflect on these questions. We’d love to hear your answers. You can always send them to us at quest@clfuu.org.