I have been really struck by Laila's 'white lie' post. When I monitor my own interactions I notice that the opportunity to be untruthful presents itself at every turn. And what's more, it is really easy to pull it off! It is so easy, that I would guess it has become habit for many us. Just today I have already stopped myself a couple of times getting ready to bend the truth for no particular reason.
I doubt I'm the only one greasing the social wheels unnecessarily with these lies. If I'm right, that's a lot of deception floating around. It can't be good for our collective consciousness.
The plot thickens as we consider not only the white lies we tell others but also the white lies we allow ourselves to believe. Those are the more insidious and take many forms. This week I am thinking about our corporate lies, the untruths we follow around like a nation full of lost puppies. Our mob mood revolves around our small attention span, and we are blown like the wind by the media, fueled by self-centeredness and fear.
For example, I was recently angered by a report that a public personality had said something cruel and thoughtless about the situation in Japan. But it only took a couple of minutes' research to discover that what that person had said was not nearly as incendiary as the critics made it out to be. I am grateful for the time I spent getting to the impeccable truth of the matter because it freed me from the burden of mis-directed anger.
Being impeccable with our words means not only telling the truth to others but also seeking the truth in a spirit of love. Perhaps Paul said it best to the Corinthians, "Love... does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth."
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