What has happened to truth? Is it dead? Is truth on a long pilgrimage lost in some remote corner of our world? Or has truth gone underground, tired of being ambushed? Perhaps, truth is frozen somewhere between melting icecaps and rising tides. Lenin knew from his modus operandi that lies told repeatedly quickly become truth. Currently, this seems to be the case – with wars, rumours of wars, the slaughter of helpless people and the destruction of infra structure: all happening in real-time and constantly being updated on screens, through podcasts, interviews and punditry of all sorts. While “truth is putting on its shoes”, according to Charles Spurgeon, lies are already “half-way around the world”. Or as Maryse Conde puts it: “truth always arrive too late because it walks slower than lies”, given its snail pace.

Pace aside, it seems that truth has become homeless and outlawed, being daily labelled as ‘fake’. And I do wonder if in our current situation Gramsci would still insist that “to tell truth is revolutionary”. It may still be the case that in the telling of ‘truth’ revolutionary impulses may gather momentum, surging from underground and bring much the change we need. The reality, though, is truth and truth-tellling urgently needs to outpace lies that are creating havoc around us. The ‘ask’ is quite a challenge given that the ‘interest’ of all sorts and their ‘influencers’ are bent on ‘silencing’ truth and reality at any cost. Or more correctly the are flooding the public square with ‘their truth’. And they seem to be unstoppable.

Contemplating the above, I am drawn to one story from our family collection of children’s story books. The story (book) is titled, Old Turtle and the Broken Truth (Douglas Wood [author] & Jon Muth [illustrator], 2003). It a brilliant story for our times given the hijacking of ‘truth’ and a near fanatic obsession with one’s own version of truth. The opening lines oozes out: “once in a beautiful, faraway land, somehow not so very far…” a space full of all the promises, potentials and hopes (past present, and future) truth streaked across the skies but as it curved/fell it broke, with a piece like a stone falling onto beautiful earth.

Crow found the fallen piece and at first delighted in its beauty wanting to keep it. After a while Crow thought something was amiss as the truth it held seemed not quite right. Something was missing. So off Crow zoomed dropping off truth somewhere. And likewise other creatures, attracted to pleasing and gleaming things, were drawn to the pebble-like truth especially its appearance and luring sweetness. But quickly got tired of its rough edges, its weight, its glint, and its bitter after taste. None wanted anything to do with this piece of broken truth. And so broken truth was soon forgotten, languishing on the ground, until human being found it, loved it, and tuck-away broken truth in a safe place for their admiration. That truth sparkled only for human being who felt proud and happy. Human being decided to take this wonderful to their people: they all look alike, spoke the same language, dressed the same way. Together they adored their newfound truth, believing in it, and keeping it to themselves. They were so engrossed with their truth that they could no longer hear the language of breezes and stones anymore – only their glittering truth which they named as ‘the truth’. Soon obsession with their truth (the truth) made them fearful and angry towards the others who were not like them and would not share their truth and their admiration of their truth. So those others became unimportant and dispensable. Locked in their own world of ‘their truth’ equated with ‘the truth’, nothing could get through to them. Sadly, as other people want to possess this acclaimed mother of all truth for themselves epic battles were waged and broken truth was won and lost multiple times. But such was its lure that no one doubted it: without it they felt empty even though much suffered around them including creation.

The animals witnessing all the senseless slaughter consulted wise Old Turtle, pleading that it should do something to put sense in human being brains as they (the animals) knew that broken truth, lacked something essential. Old Turtle responded that the people were currently beyond help, as they will not listen. They were not yet ready. So, suffering continued.

Then came a little girl travelling from afar, experiencing the beauty of diverse places and cultures across her travels. She had questions for Old Turtle: can where she lived change? can the people make it change? For good? For peace? Old Turtle suggested that the world of the young girl was not always as it is. The suffering had started when human beings found ‘broken truth’ which they held on to as their truth and the only one – not recognising nor desiring to find ‘whole truth’ – the missing piece or pieces. The young girl wanted to know where that missing piece is and whether it [truth] can be put back together. And Old Turtle offered her a clue:

“…Broken Truth and life itself will be mended only when one person meets another – someone from a different place or with a different face or different ways – and sees and hears….herself. Only then will the people know that every person, every being, is important, and that the world was made for each of us.”

And handing her a mysterious stone, which Old Turtle said it had kept for a very long time for someone like the little girl, he encouraged her to journey back and share her insights from her travels. This she did, with a changed heart and perspective, but unrecognizable by her own people. They were unable to follow her words as she told them of how the world she saw is made of small and gentle truths. She tried to explain about ‘broken truth’, but they did not believe her nor want to believe her. That is, until she took the mysterious stone that Old Turtle gave her and placed it next to the other half the people ‘worshipped’ as ‘the(ir) truth’. Their half glowed with the words: ‘you are loved’ and the other half even more radiantly whispered back: ‘and so are they’.

And slowly, the people started to understand.

March 20, 2026 @caribleaper