Although very few people will admit that they like lies and enjoy lying, dishonesty is quite common. Liars are fantasy writers, even if they never touch a pen or a keyboard. Some people lie so much that they create a living novel. Their life story is a work of fiction.
A deceiver is a liar. English needs a word for a truth-teller, so I’m inventing one. Be a realer. Realers (truth-tellers) are honest. Lying is much easier than realing. That’s probably why it’s so common.
Creativity can be used to tell lies, but it’s far more effective when it’s used for realing — to convey truth with compassion. Liars try not to let facts interfere with their fraudulent words. Realers do. They fact check. When you catch yourself in a lie, come clean. If you keep going you’ll get lost in self-made mythology.
Your conscience is the best lie detector. However, it sounds an alarm when you lie, not when other people do.
Lying tatters self-esteem, even if you pretend it doesn’t. It requires courage to be a realer when the truth exposes something you want to hide. Those caught in fear won’t do that. To lie is to admit that you’re either ashamed of or afraid of the truth (or both).
Lies were invented when Adam and Eve hid from God and from each other. They were creatively deceptive. Some people enjoy lying, but not as many like to be lied to.
A strong, self-focused agenda tends to hinder realing and to substitute expediency for honesty. To lie is to deny the real world for fantasies of your own making. To align with the real world requires radical honesty. Leaving out facts, to tarnish the truth, is a form of lying.
Lying is the fear-based response of people who tremble at the thought of telling the truth in a particular situation. Lying might deceive the hearer, but it creates guilt in the teller (who then lies to himself to try to cover his conscience). Liars are traitors to truth. Realers are loyal to it.
Jesus said: “The truth shall set you free,” but many Christians act like they think that grace gives them the freedom to lie. Even the best lies are false, phony, and fake, no matter how nice they sound or how effective they may seem. Perhaps the world’s most common lie is: “I don’t lie.”
Lying is easy and may help hide the fear of reality. Realing is difficult because it requires the courage to face reality. Because lies easily erode, everything built on them requires even more lies, and will eventually crumble.
No one has to lie. It’s either a deliberate choice, a habit, or a fearful response. We can choose to be real and honest instead. To get by with a lie is to trash the truth.
“They say,” is hearsay. It is the building blocks for conspiracy theories. Reality matters. It can be covered up, but it won’t go away. Lies are fairy tales told by those who fear the real world. One lie leads to another, creating a chain of deceit that shackles truth. Healthy self-esteem needs no lies; it can boldly embrace realing.
Because people make and write history, some lies wind up there. For some historical realing, search: Off the Race Track book.
