one degree

i cannot take credit for this initial idea. i am not even sure when i first heard it or how many times i have heard it since.  i do know, however, that this is also probably true for most (if not all) other things i will ever know or claim to know and therefore share. 

i also know that the last person who brought this subject to mind was a speaker at my sister's PA graduation ceremony. this woman was a highly decorated military official, medical genius, and thankfully, an eloquent speaker. 

this idea, this concept, her topic of speech was that of the title of this entry. one degree.

she asked if anyone knew the significance of water that was 211 degrees F. of course the room was filled with at least 65 graduating students who had spent at least the last three years of their lives in labs, so they all knew that this was one degree shy of boiling water. one degree. one measly degree. yet it wasn't boiling.

for those of you who enjoy or at least partake of the art of cooking, you know that pasta will not be edible if placed in less-than-boiling water. granted, the point at which the water boils might be only seconds away if it has already reached 211 degrees, but none-the-less, it is not boiling. if this were a place of confession, some might even admit that in a hurry, they have thrown the uncooked noodles in slightly before bubbles formed along the surface, but again, they have not removed the source of heat and will soon get there. my question would be, what if someone watched a pot (then doomed truly to never boil, yes?), waited until it reached 211 on the thermometer and immediately removed it from the fire. we would all sneer at the obscurity. we would start to poke fun if this person took it one step further and then added the noodles. sure, the pasta would soften, but it be considered cooked? 

ok, maybe the kitchen is not a good place to start. what about math? or even home-building? you are all at least familiar with high school geometry. 90 degrees sound familiar? the perfect right angle. hmm...89 is close enough, right? if considering a triangle, one with any less that 90 degrees would be acute (and not so cute if the intended result should be a right triangle), and one with any more would be obtuse. ok, i personally dislike math, so let's say you are constructing a house (oddly enough i am speaking from experience here), even if you had one wall that stood at 89 degrees, it would not only be detrimental and seemingly impossible to attach it to any other wall, but it would compromise the entire structure (again, experience speaking). the only way to make a wall standing at 89 degrees (or even 91) work within a structure would be to make the entire thing slanted. now, if you work for a company that produces fun-houses for a living, this might fit you well. more likely than not, your contractor or future home-owner will be less than pleased. 

back to math (mr. alden would be so proud). looking at the point of origin, one degree might be barely recognizable, but if you take that line and follow it out a ways, you will find that the distance from 90 to 89 (one degree) from the beginning and the still only one degree from where you now stand is exponentially greater than where you started. but it's just one degree, right? well sure. it's certainly not two or ten. but it's still not what it's supposed to be. 

translate this idea to truth.

truth slightly altered is no longer truth.

a lie (defined here as the antithesis of truth, or untruth), even at the beginning, might even look like truth. it is so close to truth, it is believable. the distance between its statement and truth is barely recognizable. until you step out on it and follow it a ways. still only one degree shy. yet, not accurate. not truth. if deception is the goal at hand, what person in their right mind would approach their prey with bait so alarmingly off-course that its untruth be blatantly obvious? if 90 degrees is truth, the bait would not be presented at 75 or 30. it's obvious. 

does this alarm anyone? is there enough causation here to re-evaluate what we believe is true and compare it to what is True? this of course will require an Absolute Truth. a Standard. someone had to establish that 90 degrees formed a perfect right angle. we need to awake in our hearts and our minds the eye for the Truth. not the counterfeit. it is said that those who work with anti-counterfeit agencies don't waste their time studying that which is counterfeit, but that which is real. the more acquainted they are with the real deal, the true item, the more easily anything less than that can be spotted and discarded.

be acquainted with Truth.