Is there anybody out there?!
We are at Chapter 2 of Dr. Stowell's Book, The Weight of Your Words. This second chapter deals with the many ways we find to twist the truth, to protect ourselves, our public image before others, or to rob someone else of their good name by bearing false witness. Pretty dangerous stuff, but things that we are tempted to do everyday.
Most of us can recall situations when we were caught red-handed in telling 'little white lies'. I remember a time when I was about 8 years old and was fighting the temptation to cut into a delicious looking cake that my mother had sitting on the kitchen counter for desert that night. I very cleverly (I thought) cut a very small piece and then pushed the rest of the cake together to close the gap, thinking nobody would notice! Of course, it was obvious to most eyes that the cake had been compromised! Walking nonchalantly into the room where my mother was sitting, I thought I had pulled it off. When she asked me if I had eaten a piece of the cake, I strongly denied any involvement in the "crime"! She smiled, suppressing a laugh, as she asked me if I knew how the frosting had gotten on my face! Caught red- handed with the evidence smeared all over my face! Sometimes, the Lord allows us to wallow in the misery of our own sin for awhile to teach us a lesson!
Of course, it isn't only kids that are guilty of being less than honest. Adults are very prone in this direction, as well. I will never forget the time my mother, not wanting to talk with a person she saw through the window, knocking at the front door, hurriedly insisted I answer the door (I must have been about 9 or 10 years old). She gave me strict instructions to tell the unwelcome visitor that she was not home.
Answering the door, aware of my mother's listening ears in the next room, I loudly announced to the intruder who asked if my mother was home: "No, she told me to tell you she's not home!"
Needless to say, my mother was not pleased with my naive honesty! She was caught in the lie by the complete innocence of my answer! I guess we can't teach our children to be honest and then turn around and ask them to lie for us when we decide it's ok!
This is a great chapter on the many ways we find to stretch the truth and the many ways we harm ourselves and our neighbor by splitting hairs with the truth.
How about you? Do you struggle with telling "little white lies" that you think are harmless? Did this chapter raise any red flags for you in this area? What steps can you take to improve in this area in your christian walk?
NOTE: I cannot tell a lie! I am wondering if there is anyone out there who wants to be involved in this book club or am I just talking to myself? Don't really want to waste my time, if that's the case.
The whole idea here is to encourage one another to grow in our christian walk while reading some good books, but also to build community through an interactive, on-line discussion of the books. We can have that interaction through the comment and reply section below this post.
If you are interested in the book club, I definitely need your feedback. If I do not receive any input, I must assume there is no interest. In that case, I won't do any further writing on this book and will discontinue the book club. If you do have an interest, please let me know.
A blog is an interesting thing. If it's not interactive, it's a bit like throwing a party and then, on the day of the party, discovering you are the only one that showed up! Not much fun, at all!
It can VERY lonely out here, all alone in the big, bad, blogoshere...! Again, I ask - "Is anybody out there?!"
