Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to
himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish
the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and
for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
The Brothers Karamazov
____________________________________
in The Book
it all went wrong with a lie
one falsehood
took the original blessing
and destroyed it
and we moved from paradise
to the wasteland
proving perhaps
that if we listen to lies
if we build our lives on lies
we will always fall
and yet we persist
the lies are out there
powerful and pervasive
lies about exceptionalism
election fraud
masks
vaccines
you know them, I know them
they trickle into our ears
insistently
the lies are in us
our own delusions
our own little dishonesties about ourselves
and others
you know them, I know them
they are our precious defense
against truths that
are sometimes painful
it is a lot of work
to live a life built on a lie
we must close our eyes
close our minds
close our hearts
close our souls
no wonder we become hardened
no wonder
we cease to love
no wonder we become desperate
and stumble into ever more deplorable places
our beliefs, our words, our actions
becoming ever more extreme
as we try to maintain the lie
ah wretched creatures that we are
who will rescue us from the lies we are told
the lies we tell ourselves?
can we be rescued
before the earth, before our nation
becomes a wasteland?
thanks be to the one
who is the way, the truth and the life
thanks be to the one who taught us about love
thanks be to the one whose words
are truth
and for a truth that can set us free
the way is clear
the way is love
the way is compassion
the way is generosity
the way is welcome
as the lies come
as the voices of hate and fear chatter in our ears
hissing their falsehoods
may we hold fast to Love
as branches to the vine
may we let the life giving Spirit
flow into us
transforming us from the inside out
so that we are no longer
the people of the lie
but stand on the firm ground
of truth and love
salt
light
yeast
special agents of God
ready to participate in the ministry of reconciliation
and love
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