A Poem

A poem by John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approach'd the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -"Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he,
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

This poem is derived from an ancient Indian fable. It communicates that none of us have a grasp on truth. One person sees truth one way, and another sees it in a different way. Each of us holding a part of the truth; everyone right in their own way given individual experience. It's used by people to say all religions are the same, and that we just have different ways of talking about or experiencing God. They may say we are all feeling the same elephant, but describing him according to our limited perceptions.

Someone could read this and say all religions are merely an attempt by blind men to grope at truth. But they miss several important problems. Firstly, If the king were also blind there would be no one to lead others to the elephant. Secondly, why did the king only led each man to one part of the elephant, instead of allowing them to experience as much as they could? Or, why would the king not describe the elephant and correct misconceptions? Thirdly, even though some are born blind, most are born with sight. Sight is a gift of God who wants us to see and perceive. Fourthly, rather than each of them having a portion of truth, they were all completely wrong. What they experienced was not a rope, a snake, or a wall, it was an elephant. And fifthly, the elephant was still an elephant in spite of what their perceptions were. The elephant was unchanged by their imperfect understanding of what they were experiencing. Their misunderstanding came from their own blindness, nothing else.

In the Matrix Neo 'felt' the Truth, but he had to swallow the red pill to actually come face to face with the objective truth of his reality - he had to wake up. He realized that all that he thought was real was false when he saw his true reality. He saw the matrix for what it was.

So, how does a blind man recognize an elephant? The King heals his blindness. The King wants him to see. The King leads him to touch the elephant, to see it, to experience it in all of its objective reality and explains it to him. The elephant is revealed in Jesus. God heals our spiritual blindness, and reveals Himself in the person of Jesus - the objective reality of the one and only true God. Jesus opens our eyes and leads us to see and experience God the Father in His objective reality. And the Word of God outlines for us exactly who God is and how to reach Him.

The question is are we still groping around with closed eyes? Do we piece together our own image of God based on what we prefer? Will we rely on our relative truth to benefit our situation? Or will we go to the cross with Jesus even though it means a cross for us? Will we allow God to be God and for Him to reveal Himself in the person of Jesus? Will we go to the Scripture daily and allow God to reveal Himself to us piecing together a true picture of the objective reality of Him as a person?

In 1 John 1:1-4 it says, 'We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — 2 this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.' They met God in Jesus; they walked with Him, ate with Him, spoke with Him, etc. God reveals Himself in the person of Jesus, we don't make Him up based on what want our God to be.