I have spent considerable time discussing with others what "reality" is. I have given a scriptural definition of truth, which could be considered the same thing. "Truth is the knowledge of things as they were, as they are, and as they are to come." Last night Russ and I watched a documentary about Glen Campbell and his family as he received the diagnosis of Alzheimer's and went on his farewell tour. It is so difficult watching someone slip away from reality. My mother developed dementia which is not far from Alzheimer's. I know others, personally, who have difficulty recognizing what is real. Schizophrenia results in the same difficulty. It even becomes difficult for the "normal" people to figure out when a person with such mental challenges is just having delusions and when they have real concerns. Often older people claim people are stealing their things. If you're not with them all the time, you may wonder if it's really happening. I have often used the example of multiple witnesses to an accident as an example of "reality" being different for different people. So, as I have asked before, how do you know what is REAL??
I continue to claim that reality is what you choose it to be. You can choose to believe someone likes you, loves you, hates you, envies you, resents you- anything. They could even dispute or deny whatever you claim but you choose whether to believe them. You can claim that there is no absolute right or wrong. People decide for themselves what is right or wrong. However, there is evidence that there is a basic moral standard that everyone could come to if that's what they wanted to do. My husband often quotes the philosopher Kant, "No person has the right to do that which, if done by all, would destroy society." Without making a lengthy list of rules, this could guide any thinking person in establishing a standard of right and wrong. Often criminals will justify their actions by claiming it's the only way to settle a problem, poverty, competition, fear, etc. They have chosen to believe that an action that is destructive to a successful, peaceful society is the only option. Sometimes people claim that they "didn't know better". However, there are countless examples of people who saw authority figures in their life make choices they could see were destructive so they purposely looked for alternative behaviors. The African boy soldiers who hated violence and destruction escaped to seek a better life. The children of alcoholics and drug addicts often choose to never drink alcohol or indulge in any drugs.Those who have personally experienced abuse make a vow to themselves they will never perpetrate such misery on others. Those who grow up with one parent often look for a stable relationship to have a strong, united family to raise their own children in. On the other hand, there are also examples of people who have made not-so-good choices as they caved in to temptation. Then, despite a good example from their parents or other authority figures, they choose to question those good examples and start off on a path looking for alternatives which invariably end up causing more problems than solutions. Truth is reality and reality is truth. You choose how you want to live and what you want to be true or justifiable or right. But an absolute right and wrong exist and everyone will eventually come to recognize it. It can either be a long, tortured search or a fairly quick find with a guide to help. You choose your guide and your path.
Personally, I wholeheartedly recommend looking into accepting the idea that God exists. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing, and very loving. He gave His only Begotten Son because He knew we would struggle on our path to finding right and reality, making lots of mistakes on the way. To ever be "good enough" to live in the presence of these totally righteous beings, we need justification. We have that through the Atonement suffered by a perfect being who took the straight path to righteous reality. He loves every one of us and invites us to follow Him.
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