Most of us back off when it comes to saying things that might hurt other people’s feelings. Telling unvarnished truth becomes proportionately more offensive as lying becomes a popular way of life.
So, most of us do not endeavor to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” unless we’re under oath. We should act as if we’re always under oath, because we are. Our Judge knows every thought, word, and deed.
Today’s reading tells us how courageous we must be when speaking. Jeremiah 26: 1-9, includes the following passage:
“Now the priests, the prophets, and all the people
heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD.
When Jeremiah finished speaking
all that the LORD bade him speak to all the people,
the priests and prophets laid hold of him, crying,
‘You must be put to death!'”
Jeremiah was a threat to power and funding. So, those in the Jerusalem Establishment responded, “You must be put to death!”
The only reason none of us have been similarly threatened us with death is because we aren’t as powerful truth-tellers as Jeremiah. He told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
With its driving desire to quantify, Catholic Fundamentalism suggests that each of us has a “Jeremiah Number”.
A Jeremiah Number of 100% describes a person, like Jeremiah, who always “tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” A “Jeremiah Number” of 0% represents someone who never tells an unpopular truth.
If, in the course of a day, we intentionally avoid “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” fifty times out of a hundred, we have a “Jeremiah Number of 50%”
We should get our conscience in the habit of asking us, “What’s your Jeremiah Number”? throughout the day, and understand that we must always do better. We should also ask “Wonder what his or her Jeremiah Number is?” as we take in the messages of others and evaluate the truth therein.
Our Jeremiah Number is important. At Judgment, we will not be asked “What’s your Jeremiah Number?”. We will be told exactly and precisely what it is by The Accounting Department. The Big Accounting Department. If our number is too low, we’re not getting into Heaven.
One way to a better Jeremiah Number? Preface every opinion that might hurt feelings with a sort of disclaimer; “I wouldn’t be so blunt, but I’m afraid of dropping my Jeremiah Number so far down that I would spend a painful eternity in Hell. So, I have to tell you what I truly think: . . . . . . . . . . ”
Today, if we’re asked “What’s your Jeremiah Number?”, our answer may not be so good. What counts is how far we can raise it between now and the end of our days.
Can you imagine how the news, and the world, would change if everyone in the news, politics, and business told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? It’s not our job to fantasize abut such things.
What’s important is that our Jeremiah Number is sufficient to let us hear the most important words of all addressed to us when The Judge looks at us after reviewing our records from The Accounting Department: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
