Some Reflections on the Search for Truth and Meaning

     The Savior recited a parable about the actions of a seeker for truth upon finding the greatest of all truths, the kingdom of heaven (the Gospel, God's true Church):
               Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
               Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had,   
           and bought it. (Matthew 13: 45-46)
     There is a short story by 19th century author Nathaniel Hawthorne, called The Great Stone Face.  In a rural valley there is a rock formation in a nearby hill that is imagined, by many locals and visitors, to resemble the shape and features of a human face.  Local folklore includes a prophecy, alleged to descend from the Native Americans, that at some future date a native son would be born whose features would resemble the Great Stone Face.  People would see him and recognize that he was "the greatest and noblest personage of his time." This prophecy inspires an innocent youngster of the valley, Ernest, who feels within himself the quest to help identify or uncover this hero.
     As time passes, the story of the stone face in the glen becomes well known across the entire country.  Other aspire, unlike Ernest, to be recognized as the hero.  One by one, they visit the valley to seek public recognition and acknowledgment of this resemblance.  But each reveals himself to have character flaws that prevent them from fulfilling the conditions of the prophecy, the latest being a writer.
     Meanwhile, Ernest has become a spry but aged man.  He has progressed from being a hill farmer to the position of local lay preacher.  The writer, who (in contrast to the other contestants) frankly acknowledges his failure to fulfill the prophecy, caps his visit to the valley by attending one of Ernest's impromptu sunset sermons.  By popular demand, the congregation has asked Ernest to deliver his sacred remarks from a site at the base of the hill where the worshipers can see the Great Stone Face high above.
     At the conclusion of Ernest's sermon, the face of Ernest assumed a “grandeur of expression, so imbued with benevolence, that the poet, by an irresistible impulse, threw his arms aloft and shouted, 'Behold! Behold! Ernest is himself the likeness of the Great Stone Face!'  Then all the people looked, and saw that what the deep-sighted poet said was true.  The prophecy was fulfilled.  But Ernest, having finished what he had to say, took the poet's arm, and walked slowly homeward, still hoping that some wiser and better man than himself would by and by appear, bearing a resemblance to the GREAT STONE FACE.”
     This story seems to me to contain the message that virtue and goodness we seek may be closer to home than we might realize. 
     Here are some lines by T. S. Eliot about the search for truth and meaning:
               We shall not case from exploration
               And the end of all our exploring
               Will be to arrive where we started
               And know the place for the first time.
     I relate this to some who are tempted to stray from the Gospel, and then search the whole world for meaning and purpose.  Occasionally they come home to the Church, having discovered that this is where they belonged all along, that nowhere else can a person find greater meaning, purpose, hope, and direction for living.