Wow, I’ve been blogging for a while. I found this photo in my media library that was taken about 15 years ago, and I’ve used it in a previous blog. I’m using it today because of my topic.
At our life group (church) meeting Sunday, we played a “get to know you” activity that is a variation of the two truths and a lie game. Not everyone participated because they needed to think about it more. They couldn’t think of the lies.
Which made me feel guilty at first because I can think of MANY lies. I prefer to call them stories. After all, I do like to write fiction, right?
So, I’ll share my two lies and a truth with you, and you can guess before I reveal the answer. Which one of the following is a truth?
- This photo was taken on the Bright Angel Trail at the Grand Canyon in 2011. Barry and I and his cousin and his cousin’s wife hiked the trail to the bottom of the canyon. Going down wasn’t too bad, but coming back up…you could feel the change in atmosphere, and I got short of breath and had to stop several times.
- I once was on a plane from Nashville to Los Angeles. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot announced they’d received a sabotage threat on our plane and we’d be making an emergency landing at the Memphis airport. He told us not to be alarmed, but when we landed we were to go to the nearest emergency exit and then “run, don’t walk” upon reaching the ground.
- You know I’m an Elvis fan. It started when I was six or seven when I saw my first Elvis movie. I begged Mom and Dad to stop at Graceland one time when we were going through Memphis, so we did. There was a man at the gate, and there were other people hanging around. But the man said Elvis would be coming out soon on his horse. Sure enough, he came down and spoke to all of us. He didn’t stay long, but I remember him noticing me and giving me a special smile. Well, in my ten-year-old brain it was.
What do you think? Which ones is the truth?
If you guessed #2, you guessed correctly. I blogged about that incident years ago, so I won’t elaborate now. It happened in December of 1971 when hijackings and plane bombings were making the news.
As for #1, it is partially true. The photo was taken on the Bright Angel Trail, but we only went down about a mile, if that far. And yes, going back up did take your breath at times.
#3 happened to someone else, not me. A co-worker of my son met Elvis when she was nine or ten. Not only did she meet him that day, he put her on the horse with him and rode her around the property. That is, if I remember the story correctly.
When all this was revealed in our group, one woman commented that many lies have partial truths. I think that’s how we sometimes justify lying. We lie by our silence when we allow someone to assume something untrue, or we lie by revealing just part of the truth, or we lie based upon a similar experience or the experience of someone else.
They’re still lies. And I think all of us have been guilty of it at times. Sometimes we lie when we are complimenting someone, and I’m a strong believer in saying kind things to people, but to lie to them? “You’re beautiful in that dress,” we might say when what we really mean is “That dress looks beautiful on you.” And we should be careful about asking questions we don’t want to know the truth about. “Do I look fat in this?” the woman might ask her husband, and boy, is he in a bad spot. If she does look fat and he tells her so, she’s likely to get angry or be hurt. But he wants to be kind, so he is likely to say, “Not a bit.” My thought is not to put him in that position. Do you agree, or do you think little white lies that are spoken out of kindness are okay?
Probably. After all, it’s not “bearing false witness” against someone. It’s not lying with malicious intent. It’s not lying to deceive. Those lies motivated by kindness are nothing like lies in which we are promoting ourselves, hurting someone else, and misrepresenting the truth.
I may be wrong in my theology, and anyone who disagrees with me is welcome to do so. Perhaps the biggest lies we tell are the ones we tell ourselves. The lie that it was okay to cheat on our taxes. The lie that I’m justified in flipping off the driver who pulled out in front of me (although I’ve never flipped anyone off, and I definitely don’t drive anymore…). The lie that a cheating spouse is justified because the other spouse doesn’t make him/her happy. Oh, the comment about adultery that gets to me is when people say, “God wants me to be happy.” They must not read the Bible very carefully. If they don’t believe in the Bible, they can say what they want, but someone professing to be a believer and saying that? Please supply scripture and verse that justifies adultery.
Not being judgmental. Just don’t bring God into it.
If we do wrong, own it. Don’t lie about it.
As I’ve said before, I have a blog so I can share my opinions, and I’m not trying to sound preachy. I’m just sharing my convictions.
And I’m also sharing I don’t always live up to them. I’m trying, but I sometimes fall into the very things I condemn such as lying, gossip, and other “sins of the tongue.” We’ve been studying that in our ladies’ class.
I think the key is to be self-aware. We have a tendency to justify our actions, and those are probably the biggest lies of all.
