Truth and
beauty—neither is visible by the naked eye yet we cannot hide from their
authenticity. The beauty of truth
is that it is genuine, sincere and pure—that is its allure yet many try to
skirt the truth for self-serving purposes. We were all created in beauty and goodness and that is why
we should feel and gravitate to its true essence yet that is not the way it has
turned out for most people. Man
has learned that if he doesn’t always tell the truth he is able to change the
way the game of life is played. He
was able to manipulate life and its outcome simply by altering the truth. I
realize that this is a powerful statement so I have chosen to give you an
example of what I mean by using the story of a famous fairy tale: “ The
Emperor’s New Clothes” to
illustrate my thoughts.
The Emperor’s
New Clothes is a metaphor of life and it is actually a warning, so when you
read and reflect on this story, you just might know someone who fits one or
more of the characters portrayed.
As the story begins, it tells the tale of an Emperor whose only interest
in life is showing off his new clothes to all his subjects. His thinking is
shallow and the thought of focusing on his duties and responsibilities is
secondary. This was a man who
lacked purpose, self-worth and self-confidence; as a result he relied on his
subordinates to feed him with the proper information in the hope that all would
go well. In fact you could say
that he was disillusioned and, therefore, easy to manipulate.
This fact
played out when two swindlers came into town and began to brag about their
ability to weave the most precious fabric that any mortal has ever seen. In fact, their clothes were so fine
that they had the unique quality of becoming invisible to every person who was not fit to see and admire their
beauty. In other words, their eyes
were unworthy to behold the vision of these splendid clothes.
The King
heard about these famous weavers and commissioned them to make some of the most
beautiful clothes in the most beautiful colors and patterns that were fit for
only this King. The weavers were
busy setting up their looms and pretended to weave the magnificent wardrobe for
the King but no one was able to see the work. It was not visible to the naked eye. The King was eager to parade among his
subject wearing his new and magnificent clothes so he sent his ministers one at
a time to check on the progress of the work. One by one his administrators went into the workroom with
the weavers but they saw nothing.
The weavers pretended on working but there was no physical evidence of
their work. Each one of the ministers proceeded in fear and worry. They believed that they were loyal and
worthy of serving the King yet they knew that they needed to lie if they wanted
to save their job, their status in life.
They saw nothing and they compromised their position all in the name of
saving face. How often in the business world or in every day life
do we see people pretending to work – shuffling papers, wasting time, etc. but
not accomplishing anything? There are always people around us who manipulate
the truth for their own personal gain.
When the day
finally came for the King to try on his new clothes, he asked all of his
ministers to join him for the viewing.
The two weavers took the clothes and pretended to dress the King. They went through all the body motions
of fastening something around the waist, tying the ribbons in the back and
arranging his garments. The King,
in his lack of his true sense of worth, played along because he knew he was
unworthy and was afraid everyone else would finally realize his
shortcomings. The stage was set
and all the players were in place and ready to carry the charade out when in
the crowd a young child yelled out:
“The King has no clothes on!” The people were aghast! Who dared to speak out and say that? The child yelled again: Look, the King has no clothes on! Everyone looked around and said: Listen to the innocence of this
child—he is correct.
It is
true—with the innocence of a child and child-like behavior, the truth was
revealed. The King knew that the
child was speaking the truth and his entire staff knew that the child was
speaking the truth but each one lacked the courage and/or integrity to say or
do anything. They finally realized that they failed themselves and their
King. They compromised their
values and principles because of fear, embarrassment and a lack of
self-worth.
In these times of chaos and confusion, day-to-day living can
be a challenge. I believe that we are all seeking answers to what is happening
yet we fail ourselves because we place our trust in the wrong places. Do you
realize that truth becomes the foundation that will hold us all together and
enable us to live meaningful lives? Divine Truth is the realization that we are
love beings who love to be honored and respected. Each one of us need to
realize that we must take responsibility for our behavior, our attitudes and
the environment in which we live if we want to feel complete and safe in our
sense of well-being. We cannot
have a life of peace and happiness if we fail to pull our weight and seek the
truth and beauty that is our God given right. Begin to think like a child and become more child-like in
your everyday life. You will be
surprised what magic you will create!
Joan Marie
Ambrose
Author,
Creative Writer, Motivational Speaker
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