by Jim Denney, adapted from
ANSWERS TO SATISFY THE SOUL:
Clear, Straight Answers to 20 of Life’s Most Perplexing Questions

“Labyrinth 28,” etching engraved by Toni Pecoraro 2007, with colors altered from the original, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

Syndicated columnist Harvey Mackay tells the story of a Duke University chemistry professor named Professor Bonk (his course was widely known as “Bonkistry”). One semester, as finals week approached, two of Professor Bonk’s male students were so confident of their straight-A averages that they decided to drive up to the University of Virginia to party with friends.

They partied hard over the weekend. Sunday morning found them nursing the worst hangovers of their lives. They were so sick, they didn’t start back for the Duke campus until early Monday morning, the day of the test. They arrived at Professor Bonk’s room a few minutes before class and gave him a story that was part truth—and  part “deconstructed truth.”

“Professor,” they said, “we were planning to be back from Virginia in time to study, but on the way we got a flat tire. We didn’t have a spare, and it took hours to fix, so we didn’t get back to the dorm until late last night. By then it was too late to study.”

Professor Bonk considered their story—then agreed to let them make up the test the following day. The two young men breathed a sigh of relief, then went back to the dorm to study.

The next morning, Professor Bonk put the two students in separate rooms across the hall from each other, each with a copy of the test booklet. From the hall, he checked his watch and said, “Begin.” Then he closed the doors of the two rooms.

In seclusion, each student opened his test booklet. On the first page was a simple chemistry problem involving molarity and solutions. The problem was worth five points. “Cool!” each young man said to himself. “This’ll be a cinch!”

It only took a couple minutes to answer the problem, and turn the page, then—

Gulp! The next page had just one question—the only other question on the exam:

Which tire? (95 points)

That day, two college students learned an expensive lesson in the importance of truth.

We live in a post-truth age, surrounded by lies, spin, hyperbole, bias, and fraud. That doesn’t mean that truth is any less important now than it was in the past. The truth, being such a rare commodity, is more important now than ever. Truth is not a relative thing. Truth is absolute. There is no pluralism of truths, no “your truth,” no “my truth.” Truth is reality itself.

I challenge you to swim against the cultural current of this post-truth age.

Challenge lies. Embrace the truth. Speak the truth. Live the truth.

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” —Jesus of Nazareth, John 8:31-32

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ANSWERS TO
SATISFY THE SOUL:
Clear, Straight Answers to 20 of Life’s Most Perplexing Questions
by Jim Denney 

(Kindle Edition)

“Read this book and save yourself a lifetime of searching and wondering. The answers you seek are all right here!”
—Jack Canfield, author of Dare to Win and the Chicken Soup for the Soul series

“Grab an arm-load of Answers to Satisfy the Soul! Buy one for yourself, one to lend out, and a dozen to give as gifts. You’ve got a lot of friends who need this book!”
—Pat Williams, author of Character Carved in Stone

“If you are on a quest for success, happiness, love, meaning, or God, this book is for you. Whatever you seek in life, Answers to Satisfy the Soul will speed you on your journey.”
—John C. Maxwell, author of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership