My neighbor pulled into my driveway and stopped his jeep. I came over from pulling weeds and he rolled down his window. He was excited. “I’ve got something to tell you,” he said, “it’s a rumor, but given who told me, it’s a factual rumor.” I had never heard of a “factual rumor” but I was intrigued. He proceeded to tell me about a project that was in the making in our town. “It isn’t publicized yet,” he said, “but given that so and so told me, it’s almost a done deal. Call it a ‘factual rumor.’”
I have used that phrase several times since then. I think about it when I listen to the news or see certain things on the internet. Most, I believe are “rumors,” or even perhaps “fake news.” Some may be “factual rumors.” Who knows? Recently the pastor of our church was riding his bicycle and had an accident where he was taken by ambulance to the hospital and the rumor spread quickly that a car had run into him and he was severely injured. It was a rumor he dispeled from the pulpit the following Sunday. He in fact was riding his bike and hit a large rock that threw him off. He had an elbow injury. For a week, however, the “rumor” that he had been hit by a car and severely injured went around as a “factual rumor.”
I minored in political science in college. I remember the wonderful campaigns of Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson in the 1950s. I stayed up late listening to the radio, a Zenith, as I recall, to hear the final results. The rumors were wild and exaggerated as to which man was winning. The truth came out late in the night-- Dwight Eisenhower had won. Ever since that time, I’ve been interested in the drama of politics.
Today the political scene is much different. Rumors and factual rumors abound, and truth is hard to find. People wax and wane over perceived insults, or whether major political leaders are real or do we “see” a double of them? I have a friend convinced the President and some major Congressmen we see on TV aren’t “real” but doubles. “Did you notice the difference in his ears? “ one friend asked me and went on to say, “ It wasn’t him. It was his double.”
It is rumored that Elvis is still alive. That Hitler was never killed in that bunker but escaped to South America. That John F. Kennedy Jr. did not die in that airplane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard but bailed out and will “show himself” to the America people when “the time is right.” Conspiracies, rumors, and theories abound, and some are so far-fetched they can’t even be “rumors.” It been rumored that Nixon met with aliens, Jackie Gleason also. We live in a funny world.
I do believe that there are spirits about us, angels who watch over us, and there is another dimension to which we someday will go and reside. I take that part as a “factual rumor.” Better a factual rumor than just a rumor. Gossip is rumor; a factual rumor is on the cusp. Such a dilemma. It’s a good spot on which to stand to survey the distant landscape of politics, religion, and human behavior. That, I believe is a fact, a truth.
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