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Ain’t it the Truth?

4/23/2023

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​“Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality. In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs, propositions, and declarative sentences. Truth is usually held to be the opposite of falsehood.” - Wikipedia
All too often in today’s world, truth is the property of being in accord with whatever set of facts tends to support our individual concept of reality. In other words, truth is what we make it or how we view the compilation of evidence presented to us.  
The trick then is to seek a body of information sufficient to allow us to come to a reasonable proximity of the “truth” devoid of personal prejudice or expectation. Any way you cut it, that’s a tall order. We, being constrained by the handicap of being human, rarely dig deeper than the information we need to support our personal belief. Politicians use this to great advantage by employing whole armies of silver-tongued minions to wrap fact and fiction into a portrait appealing to constituents…or donors. Morphing the apparent facts into a saleable version of the truth is big business in today’s world.
One way to detect a potential defect in logic is by observing the prolific repetition of catch phrases or buzz words. “On the right side of history” is one in common use today. Frankly, there is absolutely no way to tell what the “right side” of history will be unless you plan to stick around for another hundred plus years to find out. There are others that you hear all the time that are, by design, targeting your noggin for a partisan purpose.
Entertaining an idea or position and weighing it against other sources is different from endorsing or supporting that ideology or concept. Rejecting input out of hand is the very definition of being narrow minded.  
The road to peace rests not in the battle lines of debate but it the neutral ground where reason, logic, and careful consideration consult with each other. It is easy to make a noise, to hold a position, to look at the world through a narrow conceptual keyhole. It is far harder to be a peacemaker and a voice of balanced reason. Given a choice…be a peacemaker. 
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Musings from the Grove

3/23/2023

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What Does Druidry Do?

Conducted between 2018 and 2021, a survey of world Druidry by Dr. Larissa White peeled back the mantle surrounding the spread of Druidry across the world. Having “infected” some six continents and multiple countries, Druidry is one of the largest contemporary Pagan movements around. The same survey indicated that OBOD accounts for over half of all the Druids in the world. We’re big, we’re proud, and we’re here to stay!

Obviously, we must be doing something right. We don’t proselytize, engage in media campaigns, or go door to door handing out literature. The strength of our order rests not in what we can do for Druidry, but in what Druidry does for us.

I encourage you to visit the Mount Haemus Awards on the Druidry.org website and in particular, read the marvelous 20th Mount Haemus Award entitled “What Druidry Does—A Perspective on The Dynamics of the OBOD course” by Dr. Susan Jones. It gives a broad overview of the Order itself along with an insightful review of the impact the course has made on individual lives. Some seventeen years in the making, it gives an idea about where the course can take you.

At the same time, OBOD Druidry is not for everybody. In fact, many OBODies belong to more than one Druid Order, either domestic or foreign. To a large degree, we’re all looking at the same tree from slightly different angles. In that same light, we have practicing Christians, Wiccans, Hindus, Buddhists, Unitarians, and followers of the Great Pumpkin who also claim the mantle of Druid. If anything, Druidry is more open and accepting than the UUs!
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What I would hope Druidry does is expand your way of thinking and evaluating the world around you to allow you to be more cognizant of your place in the grand scheme of things. Revamp your way of evaluating input such that truth is not a single opinionated report on television but rather a thought-out assessment based on multiple inputs and the ever-uncommon common sense. Learn to temper your advocacy with tolerance for different opinions even if they are offensive to you personally.

Druidry is not for everyone but if it is for you, it will take you a long way. Maybe even to infinity…and beyond.

https://druidry.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/The-Twentieth-Mount-Haemus-Lecture

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    Author

    Art Scarbrough has been dabbling in Druidry since before Hector was a pup. A founding member of Highland Oak Nemeton, Art shares thoughts with a wider audience in this forum. 

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