Truthfulness is seeing everything as it is, not from the midst of it, but from the point of its completion. Honesty is seeing things on the way, facing challenges as they come. Truthfulness is always an expression of optimism because the brushstrokes can be sharp. But where there is no precision brought by honesty, there is no quality in the picture. In fact, someone not prepared to face small things will never be entitled to see the whole picture anyway.
In life, a truthful person knows that they should never judge unless they have understood the secret of time; unless they have seen how change works and how nothing is fixed until the end. A truthful person senses that there are stillness and completion at distance, but never stills the journey towards it; he never lives as though he has reached it but has it with him always. A truthful life is one without distraction or delay. Things that glitter do not even turn the eye. There is steadiness, deftness, economy, and yet humour; because humour comes from the contrast between what the picture is and what it will be.
Having said that, truth itself is a gift that is dropped in your lap. A very deep, private thing. It is knowing the whole span of your journey through time. And that knowing comes only to those who are open. When there is the openness with people, warmth, love, and truth between you, then in the silences between words, the picture becomes complete. Areas of vagueness become suddenly clear and vivid. Where there is deception or dishonesty in a relationship, nothing can be added to the picture. You are stuck on the surface of life. Honesty among friends is an opening for God.
Wisdom is not so much a creative quality as one of nurturing what has already been made, what is already there.
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