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You Shall Know The Truth...

"The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it's scientific truth, historical truth, or personal truth. It is the guiding principle upon which Starfleet is based!" Thus said fictional captain of the USS Enterprise, Jean-Luc Picard, in rebuking young Ensign Wesley Crusher for his role in an Academy training accident cover-up. We'll have to forgive the captain for not saying "moral truth," but obviously, the German idealists had not been purged by the 24th century. But the statement holds; there exists one Truth, ethically, scientifically, and theologically. Another way to say this is, there is one reality, not many. The right and most human thing to do is to take one's proper place in reality. There is so much we see that is contrary to reality.

Injustice is a denial of reality. Bound up with reality itself is the concept of justice; that is, to give every person what s/he is due. True liturgy is the worship of God in accord with the truth about God, and about ourselves.

The truth in all spheres finds us, and demands to be acknowledged. Even in those areas where human finitude hangs an impenetrable fog over that which ought to be known, we know that the whole of reality is there, just beyond our grasp.

Don't be afraid to take a second look. Things are not always what they appear. We must be seekers and doers of justice, "no matter how cleverly she may hide herself," as the fictional lawyer Lucien Wilbanks said.

Today, in the smallest measure, justice was done. And any time justice can be done in this hard world, it should be. I daresay that those who witness it when it is are bound to celebrate.

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