Article September 18, 2006 Issue

TRUTH IN ACTION

BY JEAN-PIERRE LACLAU

AN EXPERIENCE I had a few years ago helped me to understand better the question "What is truth"—not as a philosophical, debatable point, but by viewing God as Truth itself, the ultimate force, whose presence and action we can witness.

I was working at the French embassy in a developing country. Included in my responsibilities was the administration of economic assistance in the form of bilateral concessionary credits. We had a few ongoing projects, and, because of the country's good standing in the international community, we were willing to expand our assistance. In spite of my encouragement, however, the country failed to present us with projects that met our technical and financial criteria. During the last quarter of each fiscal year, I had had to let go of a significant amount of credits initially reserved for this country, so they could be used elsewhere. Amid intense international competition for these funds, this inactivity prompted questions from Paris.

I had sufficient knowledge of local affairs to easily point out the roadblocks we were encountering. Yet I knew that I had to look beyond them in order to move forward. And so I prayed with the Psalmist, "O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles" (43:3).