Swim Free

   Okay, my fellow sea creatures, let's not swallow hook, line and sinker. 

   Saturday we wrote about some people in a town of 10,000 believing an April Fools' article about plans for a 35,000 seat baseball stadium.

   Monday we wrote about a blogger who makes good money on a Facebook website with made-up cultural and political stories that millions of readers swallow whole.

   Many consumers of news, commentary and supermarket tabloids aren't real adept at discerning truth. 

   Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

   Would you believe, man never landed on the moon? The 9/11 attack was an inside job? We evolved from monkeys? The man is guilty because the woman says so? 

   How do we know anything for sure? Here are a few thoughts from Views By the Sea:

1. Question what you read or hear, especially things you want to believe. 

2. Consider more than one newspaper, one TV channel, one radio personality or one friend. And more than one member of the clergy. 

3. Every speaker/writer has a point of view. He or she may have your best interests in mind. Or your vote. Or your money. Consider what was not said. 

4. Grasping the truth, if that's possible, requires background. We can't fit a piece into a puzzle unless one or more surrounding pieces already are in place. 

5. It's healthy to admit that what we don't know far exceeds what we do.

6. If you know yourself well, congratulations.

7. There is one source we've learned to fully trust: the Holy Bible. Jesus said that He is the truth. He expects faith, but He also provides ample evidence of what is not seen by that which is.  

      Jimmy