lies

It starts with a lie

a lie told,

a lie believed

a lie nurtured

a lie repeated

and repeated and repeated

 

until truth is gone

left behind at the side of the road

discarded like some unnecessary baggage

tossed aside

obscenely

like a McDonald’s bag with stale fries

 

the election was stolen…

the only solution to a bad person with a gun is…

climate change is a liberal myth

God is angry and vengeful

 

some lies are worse than others

those lies that blind us to the truth

that confirm our bias

that cause us to do harm and accept harm

 

but the worst lies are those

that rob us of Love

which cause us to act in ways

cruel or careless

 

which cause us to hate

or fear

grasp

and exclude

 

Jesus said “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life.

if we want to be on the way

if we want to experience life,

 

truth must be at the center

 

truth is not always easy

it is not always comfortable

it is not always on our side

 

the truth can hurt

it can force us to change

it can turn our world upside down

 

but we cannot abandon the truth

without abandoning the way

and without missing out on life.

 

Jesus said the truth will set us from

Indeed

free from our egos

free from our delusions

free from our convenient untruths

 

the truth will break us open and pour us out

but the truth will never (ultimately) betray us

 

instead, it will pick us up

and put us back on the road of

hope and love

 

this day I will do my best to hold fast to the truth

to the truth that God is

that God is love

that God loves all

that God is about peace (not violence)

that God is about service (not domination)

that God sides with the poor (not the rich)

that God asks us to lay down our weapons (not pick them up)

 

this day I will do my best to hold fast to the truth

and walk in the way

and have life

and have it abundantly