Tell the Truth, But Tell it Slant
Sometimes the truth needs to be told from an angle. The truth head on can blind a person or scare them, like a bolt of lightning. Better to tell it in a more circuitous way. Or so it seems Emily Dickenson believed if we grasp her poem.
Jesus liked to tell it slant in his parables. Stories, probably fictional, that gave the truth an allure. Yet it was hidden, available only to those willing to ponder and dig deeper.
This is what I’ve tried to do in a post-apocalyptic trilogy I’ve written. How can I tell the truth about corporatism, consumerism, simplicity, faith, egalitarianism and pacifism without taking it head on? And how do I do so without being preachy, acknowledging these are many layered and complex issues.
Have I succeeded? Very few have read the works, but I am releasing them bit by bit – telling it slant. Take a listen and I’ll pay out a little more. When we get to the end, you can discern whether I have told the truth – but told it slant.