I attended a trial at the Court Martial recently. Some stupid idiot decided to test his luck with the law lah basically. Little did he expect a simple matter to escalate to such extent. On that note, little did anyone.
Well the atmosphere in the court was rather tensed as the two lawyers got ready to present their case. Eventhough it didn't involve me, I felt the tension. It was simply piercing.
And the trial thus begun. Silence sank in as everyone in the room awaits what the lawyers have to bring forth in his case. The prosecutor began first. He opened the trial by introducing himself before the court and "his learned friend". The defence lawyer replied in turn. The first witness was called for. He had to take an oath; whereby he swears to "tell the truth and nothing but the truth."
The defence lawyer is a sophisticated and firm man. Under the plain and simple attire lies a man capable of slicing someone's conscience. I'm glad I wasn't the one being questioned.
When he opened his mouth, his first few sentences were elegantly phrased. They were made up of simple words yet when stringed together, they become sophisticated sentences. Within minutes the witness was shred to pieces. I couldn't help but be awed.
Of course I wouldn't say anything less about the prosecutor. He too is a strong man.
It was the defence lawyer's turn to cross examine. He thoroughly questioned the witnesses to the point where they become like puppets - answering without putting much thought into it. Thankfully it was over and now the prosecutor is given the chance to retrieve the loss in confidence in the witness. The caprice was magnific!
And that was how entire trial went: an intellectual banter of words by two hard-headed men who are strongly determined to win their case.
Yet in the midst of this heated exchange of words, they were able to maintain their decorum possible only when I'm in the mood to be fucked - patient and dogged (very persistent, don't digress your attention people). Like who doesn't behave when they are promised to be given what they wanted?
Anyway, what is more interesting is the two men's pursuit of the "truth".
It was almost like an edifice. The whole trial. The concept of "truth" became clearer. The facts and evidence were presented to help form a logical picture of how the sequence of event had happened and how the discrepancies were cleverly covered. I find it amazing that some remotely related fact can be surfaced during the lawyer's "spoofing session", I'd like to call it.
It doesn't matter how you get he "truth", it's more important to show and tell the "truth" and make it eminent.
The stark similarity I drew from my observation is how intrinsic "truth" and "justice" is. For simplicity sake, I'll not try to give my believed definition of "truth" and "justice" for it's hard to give a definition of the two. According to Philosophy, there is actually no fix definition of any word. Even the definitions in dictionaries varies but the crux of the matter remains. It's the idea that matters. The truth of what the word means so as to do justice to the word. If one of the two conditions is not fulfilled, then the word would have no meaning. Hence, let's keep it simple.
Yet the fundamental of "truth" and "justice" lies in their meaning. These words which are used to find meaning for other things need to have a "meaning" themselves or they would have no purpose. Their use would then be pointless. Their purpose, supported by their meaning, can then bring something to them; something here is used to personify an arbitrary object.
The ardent need to find "truth" is crucial for it satisfies yet another entity called "justice". We need "truth" so that "justice" will be held. The search for "justice" cannot be undermined for it determines our sense of belonging. If we do not push for the search of "justice", we would not find the "truth" of our existence which inevitably is closely tied to our own sense of belonging. The latter is an addition of the former. Hence, establishing a firm grounding of the former would lead to the latter.
All of us question The Divine for our purpose in Life. We longed for the purpose of our existence so as to satisfy our query of the meaning of our existence. This emptiness in our soul is fed by Religion. Upon close examination, the crux of any religion is for us to comprehend our existence through the believe of a Divine being, capable of conjuring the impossible. Yet as Man of science, the rational explanation is that it's the psychological state of a person's mind. What we believe to have come about will materialise - after the mental block is removed. It's nothing mythical or mystical.
I am not an aethist, let me make my stand clear. But it's the pursuit of "truth" and "justice" (to logic) that has speared me to form the above mentioned rationale. Like you, I long to find the reason - meaning and purpose - of my Life. Otherwise, I felt empty. Even seeking solace in religion wasn't fulfilling. They was something else I had to do. And I finally figure out one day what that emptiness was.
And what is interesting is that I consciously take note of my surrounding. There were signs present for me to pick up and string together so as to get the answer I'm seeking. Life is a journey of intricate paths, and this journey is also a metaphor for the troubles we have to face in order to get to the "truth" and "justice" of any matter.
Take for example Newton's discovery of gravity. He took months of research to find out what is this thing that has caused the apple to drop to the ground. He wants to find out the truth of the matter so that he could do justice to his inquisitive mind and curiousity. It would then satisfy his sense of belonging: he finally understood what he was meant to do. It gave him contentment and pride.
The same could be for us. It doesn't have to be something great, and by that I'm referring to a common understanding - something that is famous. It could be something minute to others but great to yourself. It has to satisfy yourself first before others can feel the appreciation. And the formula is to find out the "truth" and do "justice" to the enquiry.
The formula wouldn't work if you're conscious of what the "truth" is and how you can find "justice" together with it. It cannot be forced. Simply ride the wave of uncertainty and curiosity with careful steering of your imagination.
It's just something I'd like to share since it has worked for me. Maybe it could work for you.
Love y'all
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