Beware of Men in Full Beards

The truth has always been very elusive. Today, I decided to tackle the subject from a different direction. I say that because everyone is always on a search for the truth. From the beginning of man's study of philosophy, the truth has been a favorite topic for discussion.

What puzzles me is how seldom we debate the definition of a lie. It would seem there are just as many lies told everyday as there are truths. I base that statement on the need for our society to remain stable. With one lie for every truth, we maintain our right to an opinion. Scary, but can't you see the truth in it?

Where we consider the truth to be black and white, lies seem to come in all shades and sizes such as little white lies and big fat lies. Some lurk around in the grey area. Apparently some lies are even transparent. You can see right through them.

Some lies are benevolent. They defend those lies by saying it would be better for him or her if they didn't tell them the truth. Some lies are juicy. They call those gossip. When they get angry they mix the juice with a little dirt and call it mudslinging. 

Sometimes, if they are running for political office, they take a little bit of truth and add it to a little white lie, twirl it around as fast as they can, and then serve it up on a polished silver platter. We all know it is something they just cooked up. Then, they ask us to swallow it whole. They call it putting their spin on the truth. Even this lie is partially transparent so it doesn't hold a candle to what we call the bald-faced lie.

The bald-faced lie first got it's name centuries ago when men grew full beards so they could tell lies without letting their facial expressions give them away. Now we don't trust most men who wear a full beard for this very reason. Eventually, the better they got at telling lies, the less dependent they were on the whiskers.

Now we have trouble picking them out of the crowd. They are the ones who have shaved their beards off? You know who I'm talking about, the bald-faced ones. We can't tell when they are lying to us, or are telling us the truth. They are that good at telling a lie.

Now I can leave it up to your imagination why bald-face lies are so dangerous. Especially, if what they say appears to be spinning around in a circle. It makes it appear to be black and white, kinda like perception and deception, which are topics for another day.

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The Sky Is Falling!!

The sky is falling!! 
                                 The sky is falling!!

This morning, sipping on my first cup of java for the day, I cruised through the headlines looking for an interesting topic to start the day with. When I got to the bottom of the list, it seemed that everyone in the whole world was at each others throats. Slowly, I went back over the list to see if any part of the planet had been spared.

Looking for a glimmer of hope amongst the violence and despair, I tried to focus on the few articles that seemed to promise some peace. Among the few positive stories I found, I looked for some indication that doom was not approaching, scorching everything in its path. To my dismay I could not shed the awful foreboding that still hung over me.

Rising from the chair in my writers den, I glanced out the window. The sun was just rising and the daffodils perked up at the promise of a new day. A few brave bees, hungry from the winter fast, began to work their way from flower to flower in a feast that must have tasted like that first raspberry I get from the patch every spring. The dark cloud of war that hung over me began to fade. Life is good!

It dawns on me that most of the strife in the world is of the making of those who live in that part of the world. Me, I am living a relatively peaceful existence in a world of my own making. I am not being attacked by my enemies because I am careful not to do those things that make enemies. I have many friends because being a friend to those in need is a priority in my life. The clear blue sky above me signifies a life filled with such friends.

The list goes on as I recall all the choices I have made in the past that have created this life that I live. But, it is not enough to brag about our success when we know full well that people out there are living in fear for their lives, living in war torn zones that are not of their own making, crying out in their despair for a little peace. Where are all their friends?

Usually, those people are living in a world created for them by their parents, and grandparents, and a society that spreads this hate and violence from one generation to the next. When I see a child suffering in the midst of all this, I begin to feel the dark cloud form over my head once more. We will not have World Peace until all parents demand it for their children's sake.

For them, the sky is indeed falling. As I settle in once more to read the morning news, now it looks more like a weather report from around the world. This day will pass, a storm filled with hate that cannot sustain itself forever.  Unless they pass it on to their children.

Maybe the sun will come out tomorrow for them.

Personal Values are important if we wish for World Peace

Turning The Page

Every time you turn the page and start a new chapter in your life, you always pause for a moment or two to reflect on how your past has prepared you to take the next step. You look back with mixed emotions, and then decide what to take with you and what to leave behind.

A simple example would be those occasions when you are making a move from one home to the next: You feel this strange mix of emotions. You feel joy and sorrow as you look back, and excitement and a little fear as you look toward the future. Even as a child we experience this as we move with our parents, change schools, and are forced to leave friends and familiar places behind.

The most traumatic part is always the severing of the bonds we have formed with the people we have grown to love. We give one another parting gifts in the hopes that we will not be completely forgotten, and we promise each other to stay in touch. And, then we turn the page.

All of this emotional turmoil prepares us for the next major chapter in our quest. At some point in our lives, sooner or later the time comes when we sever our parent-child bond and declare our independence. Again, we look back with mixed emotions and decide what to take with us and what to leave behind. It is a traumatic time for both parent and child. 

Most of us decide to take our parents with us into the future, and we discover we must start a new love relationship with them as adults to replace the parent-child we are leaving behind. We form new bonds with them so our love for one another can continue to grow. With their love and support we look forward with excitement to what the future has to offer us. Having them there helps us to control our fear of the unknown.

The key to making this decision is the reflection on the many moments of joy and sorrow we have experienced with them during our childhood. We take some of these moments with us, and leave some of them behind. And, then we turn the page.

Revelation

It comes to us, a simple thought, where the truth lay there in plain sight, our vision clear, free at last from the blur created by the deceit born of denial, the object of our attention prodded to the surface by a sense of urgency that can only come when one catches a fleeting glimpse of the end of a long and arduous journey.

Even as we gaze in wonder at this fact so long concealed by our own human desires, we pause to consider the options it presents as a gift to the person we have become, and a future filled with the knowledge it provides. Even as we stumble to find the words to express the emotions released by this revelation, we glance furtively to the left and to the right, and then quickly lay claim to what we have longed for since the first misadventures of our youth.

Knowing it was and will continue to remain invisible to many of those around us, we come to the conclusion that we must learn to share this gift without revealing its source. Only then can we hope to escape the ridicule that so often falls on our ears from those for whom the truth escapes their grasp.

As we chart our course in a new direction, we begin to feel the energy and enthusiasm we have not felt for so very long begin to fill our mind with optimism where doubt has lingered for what seems like an eternity. Beating back the despair, wondering if it really has come at long last, but apprehensive about so little time remaining.

Fearful that it is too late to use it to fulfill our destiny, we decide with a  shrug of our shoulders to cast out the last of our reservations, and free ourselves from the burden of a past that, in retrospect, seems wasted by the distractions of a shallower physical world. And then as quickly as it came, the thought is gone. All that remains is a change in course, and our determination to follow our dream.

If Not I, Then Who?

There comes a time when we all begin to think about the void we will leave behind when we leave. About two seconds after I wrote this line, I began to have second thoughts, and decided to take a few seconds to consider my options before I gave anyone who is reading this a chance to second guess what I am talking about. Ready, set, go!

Well, the bowling team survived my departure just fine, and last I heard they were making a run at first place in their division in spite of my ability to fold under pressure and pitch the last ball into the gutter. So there you have it! For just a few seconds I had you contemplating a real life or death situation.

Still, there were a few things to be learned from this "near death" experience. Never overestimate your net worth in any given situation is one of those things. It is true. You can’t take it with you. I had left my competitive spirit behind when I departed from the team, and they promptly gave it to whoever took my place. Maybe I should emphasize that word "promptly."

Now I have come full circle, and am once again face to face with the real question. If not I, then who? This time we can cautiously approach the question without any preconceived notions, and get a really good look at how often this one question comes up in our daily lives.

We all occupy a certain amount of space, so there is no way to prevent the void we always leave behind when we move on. That one thought makes it easier to come to the conclusion that what we leave behind is almost always more important than our brief visit to what is now history. What does that void look like?

This simple truth would be a lot more frightening than it sounds if it weren’t for the fact that we have a lot of control over what our history looks like. Now we can get serious about our discussion. Overestimating our net worth and rewriting history are two things that we consider to be foolish. Yet, we all still feel the urge to try.

I realize that we are now only a little closer to answering our question, and have already stumbled over two of our most common human failings. For the memory challenged I will repeat the question. "If not I, then who?"

Let’s take a run at that question from another angle. No one is irreplaceable, yet no one is a perfect fit for the void we leave behind. If you pick up an article of clothing and the sign says “One size fits all”, what they mean to say is “This will look bad on anyone who dares to try it on.”

There is a lesson to be learned here, but probably not the one you were expecting. Let’s take another look at what we have learned in this brief tutorial.

Don’t jump to conclusions. Never overestimate your value. What we leave behind is often more important than our individual contribution to the effort. We are seldom successful when we try to rewrite history. If the shoe fits, wear it. Life is much too short. And, what you want to leave behind you when you go is a really big pair of shoes.