Why Truth Matters
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
February 1, 2026
Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections. The scripture I have chosen to support my message is from Matthew 5:33-37 from The Message.
“And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.
Throughout this week, I have been personally reflecting, contemplating, and having a variety of deep conversations, but one subject keeps coming to the surface – that being TRUTH.
It seems only appropriate that on Scout Sunday we would talk about Truth as it is a foundational tenant of both Boy and Girl Scouts. I personally remember in my scout days being Trustworthy was the first descriptor of a scout. It meant that we were to be first and foremost people who tell the truth and keep promises, so that others could depend on us. And the same is true for Quakers as we consider this part of our testimony of Integrity.
Sadly, today, being trustworthy in this way, seems to have fallen into a gray area of interpretation and contention.
Yet, being considered trustworthy is as old as time.
If you go all-the-way-back for a moment to the opening story of the Bible, you will find an interesting dialogue between God and Adam and Eve. In that story God tells Adam and Eve they are free to eat from every tree in the Garden of Eden but one.
And in a rather odd pronouncement, God says that one tree is his alone. If they eat from this forbidden tree, they will die.
As with all good stories that are to teach a lesson, Adam and Eve determine they could not live with this God deciding the nature of what was good or bad for them.
No, they would rather choose good and bad for themselves. Those are often famous last words.
So, Adam and Eve become the first “truth spinners” – and the rest seems to be history (as they say).
The story from Genesis goes on to show how Adam and Eve began lying to themselves about the tree and about God.
They had to spin this by creating a new scenario – “God is holding out on us.” And this thinking, quickly led to a downward spiral of lies which ultimately finds them naked and afraid.
To think the very first story in the bible tells of a God actually searching for Adam and Eve to reconcile their broken relationship, to reclaim truth, and to bring peace again to their lives, is very interesting.
Sadly, this story of Adam and Eve, is a great metaphor for the “truth spinners” we have become and see so prevalent in our society, today.
To bring this “truth spinning” to our current day, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun describes some of the modern ways we still do this, such as…
· We pad expense accounts with rationalizations and denials.
· We back out of commitments with blame and deceit.
· Advertisers, corporations, government & non-governmental agencies, educational and religious institutions “spin” the truth - everything from ruining the environment to insider trading gets the spin.
It’s not hard to understand why people don’t know who or what to believe these days.
And today we have to add Artificial Intellegence (or AI), that can both help us in many ways and deceive us in very unhelpful ways.
This is why the early Quakers were committed so strongly to telling the Truth and ultimately embracing a testimony of integrity. And folks, this was not just in their personal lives, but in all areas in which they engaged – from politics and legislation to civil liberties, to educational, economic, and workplace scenarios.
The Early Quakers believed truth telling or as they called it “plain speaking” did not,
· exaggerate,
· minimize,
· deny,
· rationalize or
· manage the truth
Wow, good thing they did not have our 24hour news channels, social media outlets, and advertising industry back when they embraced this tenant of our faith.
Friend Gray Cox in his Pendle Hill Pamphlet, Bearing Witness-Quaker Process and a Culture of Peace says the following:
...Quakers view truth as something that happens, it occurs...Truth is not a dead fact which is known: It is a living occurrence in which we participate....
The guiding concern of people bearing witness is to live rightly, in ways that are exemplary. Insofar as they have an end they aim at, it is perhaps most helpful to think of it as the aim of cultivating their souls and converting [or better transforming] others.....
Quakers are convinced that genuine leadings all proceed from a common ground, spring from a unity which we seek and find...
In a world, that currently lacks a great deal of truth and the desire to uphold it, we are seeing a rise in anxiety, frustration, and misinformation. It no longer takes a turning on the news to get the facts straight.
Now, we may spend an afternoon reading different perspectives and accounts, watching multiple recordings of events from personal cell phone cameras, social media influencers, and TV networks. We can literally turn the channel and watch the same story being told completely from a different perspective on a different channel. And thus, we gravitate to what we like to hear and often make that our truth – when it may too be far from it. It is frustrating to say the least. There was a time when Truth was the goal, but now there are many other goals.
This makes us feel that we have no influence on this current state of trustworthiness, but honestly, that, too, is a lie we have told ourselves.
Just as the early Quakers, our voices and lives need to be heard and seen. We need to be pronouncing truth with integrity, on a daily basis, not just when it seems acceptable – and in ALL areas of our lives.
As Cox said, we need to cultivate this in our own souls, first, and then allow it to convert (or transform) those around us, so that we can find a common ground to work from.
I wonder what would happen if as Quakers we re-committed ourselves during these troubling times to work on our deficiencies in the areas of “telling the Truth and integrity” (as our ancestors before us)?
· What if we refused to spin events and experiences in order to impress others?
· What if we stopped exaggerating?
· What if we stopped cheating on tests, taxes, insurance forms, etc…?
· What if we kept promises and followed through?
· What if we repented, and informed others of when we had lied to them?
· What if we spoke truth in love?
· What if we refused to flatter or dissemble?
· What if we said what we meant and meant what we said?
· What if we refused to slander another?
· What if we refused to gossip or pass gossip and rumors?
It starts with us. Before we point a finger at our neighbor, or that politician, or that relative, or whomever, we must first point the finger at ourselves and work on our own trustworthiness.
Quakers have amazing ancestors who are exemplary examples of people who told the truth with plain speaking – and who used their lives and beliefs to change the world.
It is good to remember that our Quaker ancestors did not begin as world changers…they began as ordinary people like you and me.
· They had to look at their current condition and ask those questions of themselves.
· They had to start small in their own circles of influence, during difficult times, and find ways to stand firm in their beliefs.
· They had to count the cost of living and believing in a radical way from their peers.
And because they did…we are remembering their examples today.
But remembering is different than following their example.
Their example started somewhere…but too often we simply look to the final results of their lives, and see how big an impact they had, and leave it with their legacy.
Just maybe we need to follow their process first, so we, too, can leave a legacy for our future generations.
Did you know that before we were labeled as Quakers, we were actually called “Friends of Truth”? Just maybe we need to embrace that name once again.
Well, as I wrap up this message, I want to share a final Quaker story about truth, that often is taught to our older children. When I happened upon again this week, it took on a very different meaning. The story is about Allen Jay a 13-year-old boy at the time of this story (If the name sounds familiar, Allen would later became a prominent 19th-century American Quaker minister, educator, and administrator known for his work in reviving Southern Quakerism after the Civil War. He served as a key fundraiser for Earlham College, traveled extensively as a minister, and was considered one of the best-loved Quakers of his era.) His family was also part of the Underground Railroad. Remember this is a Quaker story for older children about telling the truth.
Allen Jay said that he and his father were outside working one day, when their neighbor, a doctor, who was an Abolitionist, came riding up to the front of the house.
The doctor said that an escaped slave was nearby, and that a group of slave catchers were looking for him. The doctor rode away, and Allen Jay’s father said,
“Allen, I’m going out back of the house. If anyone comes to the gate, you can hide them down in the corn field under the big walnut tree. But don’t tell me or anyone else.”
By and by the escaped slave came along, and Allen Jay hid him down in the cornfield. Back at the house, Allen Jay’s mother was fixing up some dinner in a basket. She said,
“Allen, if thee knows anybody who thee thinks is hungry, thee might take this basket to him.”
That afternoon, the slave catchers came riding up, and Allen Jay’s father went out to meet them. The slave catchers asked if he’d seen an escaping slave, and Allen Jay’s father truthfully said he hadn’t. Allen said, “I kept out of sight.”
Folks, there are Quakers, right now, in Minneapolis who are living out a very similar Truth. Someday we will tell their stories of Truth. May the Spirit be with them and grant them safety and peace, today.
Now, this week I have prepared our queries in the form of a practice:
I ask that we start by taking some time to assess our own personal honesty. As I have been speaking about the last couple weeks in numerous settings, to make real change, we must first make changes in our own hearts.
Think back over the past week, and ask yourself the following…
· Where have I been tempted to stretch the truth, take advantage of a privilege, break a commitment or gossip? What does that say about me and my Truth?
· Where is it hardest for me to tell the truth?
· Finally, this week, I challenge you to practice one of these habits:
1. not exaggerating,
2. not gossiping, or
3. not rationalizing.
Then ask yourself, what is it like for me to do this and how does it effect my truth?