#258 – Did you believe the truth was obvious?

I did. Perhaps naively, I assumed that the truth was one for everyone and that it presented itself without question.

I believed that people of the law (namely judges and prosecutors) were immune to the human condition that impairs our ability to see the truth.

Above the Judge's bench in my son's case, the words 'We Who Labor Here Seek Only The Truth' are written in golden letters. I believed it.

I was wrong, wrong, wrong.

When my son's attorney presented the CCTV footage showing him being followed for 1 minute and 58 seconds by the alleged victim, who prevented, on two occasions, the elevator doors to close, hence preventing him to leave the premises, the Judge saw "two gentlemen walking around."

And the prosecutor? He was "sure there's a logical explanation."

When my son's attorney pointed at the part where the alleged victim pulled my son out of the elevator and dragged him across the lobby, while my son's hands were up in the air, the Judge saw "a vicious attack" and "the accused charging out of the elevator like a bull."

I'd never imagined someone had to want to see the truth in order to see it. Otherwise, they just see what confirms what they already believe.

The part of one's mind creates that bias? The Ego and the Ghosts. Your life experiences made the creeps in your head see certain things, and if you're not paying attention, you'll believe them.

I'm sure many times I've also been wrong when seeing what I believed to be true – although a Nazi salute seems recognizable enough.

That's why I work on keeping my mind always open to the question, "what's the 2% truth in what they're saying?"

What truth do you need to be willing to see?

Love,

Carolina

PS: My son feels great remorse for having defended himself from a man and causing him to be unconscious for less than five minutes. Seven days later, this man, allegedly the victim, was back at work in his uniform. While my son, with no criminal record, has been sitting in jail for five months and seven days today.