God is the artist who paints the masterpiece of reality on the canvas of our rationality in the pigments of truth.
The Sledgehammers of truth
Our perception of reality has been distorted . The truth - both the sour truth and the sweet truth - is the sledgehammer that shatters the illusions that distort our perception of reality.
The sour truth is the sledgehammer that shatters the sugarcoating with which the serpent covered the Valley of Tears. The sour truth is harsh but effective medicine. However, it has a deleterious side effect. It creates an illusion that camouflages the sweetness of paradise.
Forgiveness is the sledgehammer of truth that shatters the illusion that hides the sweetness of paradise from us. Jesus released forgiveness into the Valley of Tears as the blessed byproduct of the violent collision between himself and the evil that we did to him on the road from the Crucifixion to the Resurrection.
By shattering the illusions with intimate contact with the truth, our perception of reality is restored. Godless people are turned into People of God.
Reality shatters illusions
Reality shatters illusion as rock shatters scissors (Wikipedia). Contact with words about the truth is a poor substitute for contact with the truth itself. There is a big difference between hearing about a house on fire and being in the house while it is on fire. A representation of reality does not pack the same persuasive punch as the reality itself. So God lets us come in contact with the reality of the Valley of Tears to shatter the serpent’s sugarcoating. When we put our fingers into the flames in the Valley of Tears, we learn for ourselves that the fire is hot. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” . In the Valley of Tear, we are prisoners of falsehood. The sour truth sets us free from our imprisonment. We do not become gods, without God, in the Valley of Tears.
Intimate contact with the sour truth
Unfortunately, our intimate contact with the truth in the Valley of Tears is not limited to intimate contact with the sweet truth. In the Valley of Tears, we come into intimate contact with the sour truth as well. All of our complaints against God's rescue plan originate from our intimate contact with the sour truth.
The Liberating Power of the Truth
The serpent testified that we would become gods, without God, in the Valley of Tears .
God testified that, without God, in the Valley of Tears, we would die .
Supremely confident in the liberating power of the truth, God let Adam and Eve conduct their own investigation into the conflict in the testimony between God and the serpent. He did not stand in the way. He did not stop them. Even though an expedition of exploration into the Valley of Tears was contrary to their self-interest, God was unwilling to turn paradise into a prison, himself into a warden and them into prisoners to keep them in paradise. A cage is still a cage no matter how gilded. Nor did he drag them back to paradise against their wills while they kicked and screamed like recalcitrant children. He let their exercise of free will play out. God knew that in the course of their investigation they would learn the truth and the truth would make them free . They would learn the truth the hard way. Instead of accepting God's word, they would would figure out the truth for themselves. Figuring out the truth for ourselves is the highest form of persuasion. Contact with words about the truth is a poor substitute for contact with the truth itself even though the words come from an impeccable source, that is, God himself.
