Cherry Treed

My mother would remind us when she caught us in a pubescent prevarication (aka lying) that Revelation 21:8 said that all liars would have their place in the lake that burned with fire! She would go on to remind us that Jesus said the devil was the father of lies and lying was his native tongue. In school we learned that our first president as a little boy chopped down his father’s cherry tree and redeemed himself by not telling a lie but confessing his sin before his father. I would like to tell you that such cautious tales and well applied Scripture kept my lips on the straight and narrow path of truth… but then I’d really be a liar and because I can still taste the bitter residue of ivory soap that had more than once washed my mouth free of untruth, I confess that I have told a few whoppers in my time. As I have matured over the years I have discovered that an ingenuous spirit rejoices in the truth and always speaks truth in love. However, such spirit demands diplomacy yet presupposes that honesty IS the best policy. Truth is enveloped in love and elucidates not just observable facts but applies a wisdom that has as its goal, “to build one up not pull them down (2 Corinthians 10:8).”

The greatest lie is not a truth opposite or even an exaggeration but rather a truth twister. The father of lies from the beginning was a truth twister convincing the original pair that God was hiding truth from them. Life is full of such subtle twists. Unhappy spouses convince themselves that God wouldn’t want them to be unhappy and certainly doesn’t want their children subjected to such unrest and hostility. Employees fudge on time sheets and help themselves to office supplies because it’s an unspoken fringe benefit. Sir Walter Scott was right when he wrote, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” Lies often twist and distort the truth until the mangled remains become so confusing that even the liar is at loss to recount what they have said.

The cherry treed dilemma here is echoed in Pilate’s query, “What is truth (John 18:38)?” Certainly, reality shows are not reality but edited, scripted, manipulated emotional cattle calls. George Washington’s cherry tree story is after all been discovered to be a “preacher story” by an overzealous biographer. Whether you are googling, reading the front page, or listening to your favorite anchor, preacher or analyst one can be assured that truth has been altered, slanted and preened for use. So is everything a lie? NO! There is one who is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6)! Truth is not in facts nor is it in perception. Truth is divine. It is embodied so that it can remain living and active. It is anchored by principle and articulated by faith. It stands alone. It demands both humility and tenacity so that we remain willing vessels to be filled with a treasure not our own.-DAN