TRUTH or LIES

When I was about twelve, I overexuberantly “danced” through our highly decorated living room. In my complete abandon, I inadvertently bumped into a small table, knocking it over and breaking the lamp that was sitting on it. I think we can all remember that moment in our childhood when we were faced with the dilemma of “owning up” to something we had done. The thought of blaming it on my sister or the dog certainly crossed my mind. But, with my father’s stricture, “Nothing less than the truth…” echoing in my head, I fessed up to what I had done and accepted the consequences. I was barred from the living room for a week (devastating, as the TV was in the living room) and had my allowance put on hold indefinitely (I think my parents relented after about a month.)

The point of the story is that whatever you think might be gained from telling a lie, the sense of pride one feels in oneself, when telling the truth, outweighs it a millionfold. In fact, in recalling my childhood “disaster” I seem to remember that, along with the painful discipline, came the extravagant reward of my father’s respect for my honesty.

I am almost positive we are all guilty of “little white lies.” I kind of think of those as relatively “harmless” lies, the ones we tell to make someone feel better, or reassure them, or simply wriggle our way out of an uncomfortable moment. “I love that dress on you, the color is perfect!” “I did mail the letter.” “Of course, I want to go to the store with you.” “No, you didn’t hurt my feelings.” Little white lies are not so much lying as they are, well – a diplomatic way of not hurting someone’s feelings – a way to avoid making someone feel badly about themselves.

But “little white lies” are not the ones that scare me. The kind of lies I want to talk about today are not little, they are big, dark, ugly, and horribly harmful and inevitably, self-serving. Harmful, not only to each of us on an individual level, but harmful to the world as we know it.

Today, lies hang like a thunder cloud over the political arena. People not only embellish, but they also downright fabricate their education, their religious background, their family history and we, the voters, are left to try to figure out truth from lies. With social media as a weapon, lies spread like flames in dry tinder. And not only do the would-be senators and congressmen, governors and mayors, legislators and judges lie about what they have done, more importantly, they lie about what they plan to do if elected. They lie about alliances they are going to make, how they are going to spend our tax dollars, how they will address global warming and climate change, immigration, discrimination, and a host of other issues that affect our lives, and the future we will leave to our children.

It would seem we human beings are somewhat attracted to the “art” of lying. There used to be a game where you were given some absurd fact and you could speak the truth but someone else would have to explain that fact with lies – and then everyone playing had to guess which was the truth and which was the lie. There was, I’m sorry to say, an even split between the lie being believed and the fact being believed. The thought of that, in today’s world, is terrifying.

“Truth” is defined as “…that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality…” A “lie” is defined as “…the deliberate act of deviating from the truth…” The truth cannot be negotiable. It cannot be redefined to fit the purpose of someone who wishes to gain political power, persuasive position, or wealth. The truth simply is and like a sword it defends, defeats, and destroys those who would climb their way to a position of influence on a ladder of lies. But only if we can distinguish truth from lies.

The world, as we know it, stands at the very edge of a very steep cliff. The fall may well be fatal. If we take the wrong step, we will end up looking at a world in total disarray – where out-of-control weather and war, famine and thirst, political oppression become the enemies that bring us, all civilization as we know it, to our knees.

Tomorrow must be forged in the fires of truth. We must, each of us, find it in ourselves to question, to require proof, to go the extra distance and to demand accountability if we are in doubt. We cannot, not one of us, stand on the sidelines and hope for a better tomorrow. We choose tomorrow, it does not choose us. And that choice must be made by discerning truth from lies.

Truth or lies, my friends, will in the end determine whether we rise or fall…

Truth or lies…

Truth or lies
…decide for better
or for worse the path
we take the choices

that we make attest
to our success or as the dust slowly
settles reveal
our mistakes

a kind of alchemy
between what is what
seems to be…

the apple
ripe and ready
to be plucked offering
a chance to taste
the richness of the fruit
mouthwatering a savory
trip to wonderland but
at its core the worm waits
to wriggle dark and ugly
in our hand

truth or lies
we try to pacify the one
and disregard the other
and yet stand like warring brothers
on the other side
of everything you shout
I scream you hope
I dream and while
we writhe about in pain
and disarray
truth dies lies
scheme…

-Susan A. Katz (All rights reserved)

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