I have been thinking quite a bit lately about lies. Lies are everywhere! They come in all shapes and sizes and from people from all walks of life. Lies are told for numerous reasons. Lies are softened from time to time. Lies come in various forms – bald-faced; white; outright and compulsive. There are lies of fabrication; lies of exaggeration; lies of deception! Plagiarism is a lie! Slander is a lie! Libel is a lie! Lies, lies, lies! They are everywhere . . . everywhere!
Lies deceive, destroy and decimate. Lies can cost us money, impact our relationships and affect our choices. Lies are difficult, if not impossible, to track and monitor. Lies, even little lies, grow. C.S. Lewis once said, “A little lie is like a little pregnancy—it doesn’t take long before everyone knows.”
Lies are all around us. We listen to them. We believe them. We tell them. We cover them over. We become comfortable with them. We often make them a part of our lives – a part of our character.
Lies and deception become a part of our entertainment in movies, poetry, plays and prose. I can even recall a couple of songs from the 70’s about lies. Three Dog Night recorded a song entitled, Liar. The Eagles recorded a song, Lyin’ Eyes. Great songs!
Lies . . . What’s the real problem with lies? How long do you have? Lots of things are wrong with lies. EVERYthing is wrong with lies. Lies are the keys that open the doors to every kind of evil.
The more I think about lies, I believe that the worst lies, the most insidious lies are The Lies We Believe. We believe lies for all kinds of reasons. We believe lies about ourselves – both positive and negative. We believe lies about others – when believing the truth would be both easier and more useful. We believe lies in order to keep on believing other lies. We believe lies to keep our status in groups. We believe lies to benefit from the misfortune of others. We believe lies to make ourselves feel better about our foibles. We believe lies to perpetuate the lies that other people tell us.
The Lies We Believe threaten to irreparably rend the fabric of our lives, our friendships, our families, our schools, our corporations, our government . . . our world. Lies are the common cancer that eats away at our decency.
The Lies We Believe can be fought. All we have to do is stop telling them; stop believing them; stop living them.
Peace!
Mark E. Hundley
