We should remember that truth is many-sided; that all truth comes from
one source. There is only one sun in the heavens, yet, as you know,
there are many beautiful colors, all of which come from the one sun.
You cannot say that the red is better and truer than the blue, or that
the blue is better and truer than the yellow. You may prefer one to the
other; you may see that one color is more universal, more applicable
for different purposes than another, but there is truth in each. In the
same way there is only one earth, but there are a great many different
trees which grow out of it, and which derive their nourishment from
it; and although the oak may be very much better suited to England and
the fir to Norway, yet we admit that there is truth in each; that one
is just as good and true a tree as the other. Therefore, let us who are
apt to think in the church and other religious communities that we have
got all the truth ourselves, remember that truth is wider than can be
apprehended by any body of human beings, and let us be tolerant to one
another, not forgetting that those who are not in the same community
with us hold their side of the truth as strongly as we do ours.
Each religious community has witnessed, and is witnessing, to some side
of the truth. Religious communities are not perfect in themselves like
trees or flowers, but for that very reason it is all the more necessary
that the members of them should be tolerant, and should make the
greatest effort to understand those of other religious beliefs.