What The Truth Does (inspired by Maceo, and by Russell, and by Eddie Glaude)

by Darryl L. Fortson, MD

At first, The Truth is a pain, a stumbling block,

a stone you dash your foot against.

You hop about, as your toes throb,

cursing its presence in your path.

You encounter it again in later days,

in the path you walk, and you remember the ache.

You mutter to yourself,

"who put this doggone thing there in my path??!!

It is in The Way."

You try to move it to the side

or to the back

or to where they pick up the trash -

somewhere where The Truth can't be seen.

But it is too heavy to move out of The Way.

You ask something bigger and stronger than you

to come and pick it up and take it away,

but no one comes, because no one can move The Truth.

You see The Truth, day-to-day, over time,

on days cloudy and clear, warm and cold.

And it just sits there -

you have no choice,

you have to look at it,

you have to touch it -

The Truth that is in The Way.

And when you finally stop to examine The Truth in The Way,

you see that The Truth in The Way is a Life -

it is moving,

it sees you completely and utterly,

and it speaks to you, and it makes demands.

It is then you realize that this Truth is not in The Way - it is The Way,

and this Truth and this Way belong to you.

Someone or Something put it there

and it is not supposed to just sit outside and freeze,

or dry in the scorching heat.

It belongs in your house,

it belongs to you and in you -

after all - it is The Truth.

Now that The Truth has your attention, you can hear what it has to say.

It says, "I do not wish to be in your Way. I wish to be your Way.

Please, take me in - follow me."

If you say "no," it will just sit there,

and you will continue to dash your foot in the dark

until your foot breaks and you can't walk anymore.

But if you say "yes," you won't have to move The Truth

because The Truth will move itself.

It will move into your house,

and it will move into you.

Some of your neighbors will see The Truth; some will not.

The Truth is in their Way too.

You can't move theirs and they can't move yours.

All you can do is pray for them and put The Truth you have where it belongs,

doing what it is supposed to do.

Maybe when your neighbor sees what you do with The Truth in your Way,

they will know what to do with The Truth in theirs.

If you do these things, you will have The Truth,

and you will know The Way,

and you will possess The Life.

And then, you will be ok.

And then, you can smile.

And this is what The Truth does.

And this is how it changes the world.