My Truth

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free

John 8:32

When you make a mistake how far does it follow you before it lets you life. How long do you have to feel the weight of it before the burden is removed?

The truth is, many people do not like the version of the truth they are told, if it differs from what they expect. They like the thrill of a secret until they know what it is. They are intrigued by your mystery until they discover it, and realize that it’s really not that deep!

I am sure we can all admit that from time to that we make mistakes – unless you are delusional. Everyone does something that they are not proud of. Yet, we are so quick to condemn each other when we are not in the hot seat . It’s especially easy to do when things are going well for us; when we don’t have to look in the mirror, when we are not faced with our mistakes. We can quite happily pretend that all is right in our world and we, unlike mere mortals, are the example and certainly not the rule.

Then there are those who would love to reveal their imperfect beings, but those around them do not offer them the grace to be human. They listen carefully to what others say about them and they realize that they have to hide a part of who they are, because people do not want to see or acknowledge a side they do not understand. So some mistakes are never seen. But, because it is never seen, does it mean it never happened? Does it mean that those who make certain types of mistakes are absolved of them, when they are not expected to fess up?

It’s funny how many want to hear they truth until they do:

all you have to do is just tell the truth…

you know what they say, and the truth shall set you free…

Yes my friends, free until you really start doing the telling.

What they don’t tell you is that they want the pleasant truth, the one that will not make them feel uncomfortable. Only the truth that makes sense for them will do; not your truth. Sometimes the truth is the last thing that people want to hear and so they never do. Instead many of us pretend to be what we hope will go down easily, make us accepted and we find out too late that even in telling a truth that’s not the truth we may not be accepted; it was never going to happen. The truth is funny and sometimes a slippery slope to your demise when people celebrate the lie that comforts, lies that have been institutionalized. We hang on too long to things that no longer work. We do this when the truth is harder to tell than the lies that soothe. When we have moved on in every way but physically, it’s not because we want to but because even though we have said in every way that we are ready, no one really listens. And if we are honest the lies allow us to belong on the inside – because who really wants to stand on the outside looking in?

So we wait too long to get the courage to tell our truth and live it. We pass up opportunities to break free from a glass house that can be shattered at anytime. So what should we do? Maybe we just need to take a chance on ourselves and just live our truth.