Liars. Those who seek to deceive others and manipulate them for the sake of personal gain.
Politicians are often the first ones to come to mind. These people are the ones seated on the thrones of power. They desire to control others so that they can continue to live a life of ease and contentment.
What about others? The ones who cheat the system to gain wealth at the expense of the ignorant. Or those who steal from others thinking that they deserve what someone else possesses more that the one who earned it?
Perhaps those on the government dole who figured out how to get stuff and money without effort? Those manipulating the system at the expense of taking from those who either work hard to pay taxes to support such programs? Or perhaps just preventing those resources from being available to those who truly need them?
Liars. They are the most hateful creatures on the planet.
End game…
Their end game is to be their own god. As such, they believe there is no need to be accountable to anyone else.
They make up their own rules. And they justify their actions by a series of rational delusions.
Little do they realize that they only live a short time. They can gain nothing, and they cannot take anything with them when they die.The Natural Law isn’t on their side.
And the only ones they deceive is themselves.
Memory…
My first encounter with a hard-core liar was in junior high school.
A young girl from a troubled home seemed to have befriended me. I told her that I really wanted a mouse for a pet. She told me the story of a white mouse she had.
Over the course of time, she made promises that she would give it to me, cage and all, for free. I was just to wait a day or two and she’d bring it to school.
The days came and went. The promises continued. And the excuses continued to escalate as to why she never delivered on her promise.
For the first time, the pain I felt caused me to understand that I could not trust anyone apart from my family to tell the truth.
In the end, that act caused me to become angry. Not so much that she hurt me by her lies, but because I had naively fallen for the deceptions.
As the years went on, I’d forgotten about her. But once in a while, she kept popping into mind.
God was nagging at me to forgive her. I didn’t know her struggles in her personal life. Nor do I know what ever happened to her.
I forgave her. And the forgiveness will continue toward her. Memories don’t go away. These memories remain. They will serve to keep me from being so naive and gullible should it happen again.
Necessities of liars…
Liars are necessary in our lives. Indirectly, they aren’t there to hurt us. Liars are our teachers. They show us that we should not cling to another human being as our source of Truth in all things. Man is imperfect. When we put our trust into fallen creatures only, we can be sure that we will also be let down.
If it weren’t for those who practice deceit, we would be constantly trusting the wrong thing.
How many times have those on campaign trails lies to us to get elected – or re-elected? What child hasn’t lied to keep from getting into trouble? Or a employee who constantly runs late or tells tall tales about others?
Are any among us perfect? Who hasn’t, at one time or another, lied to keep from getting into trouble?
It’s automatic. And it’s part of the state of a fallen human being. We don’t want to get in trouble or be seen as the one causing problems. We exaggerate or twist the truth to prevent the onus to fall on us.
Humanness and forgiveness…
We need to remember that none of us (except Christ) are perfect. We all fail.
The remedy to our fallen nature is to learn to put our trust solely in God.
And to forgive. We first need to forgive ourselves. Then we will be able to forgive those who hurt us.
If we find ourselves committing a sin, we need to right the wrongs we do to ourselves and others. Repentance and Confession are a part of the process of healing.
Recognizing our own weaknesses helps to define our approach of mercy toward the sins of others. Correcting the fallen, and forgiving those who come against us.
Remember, too, that each of these sinners we encounter is there to show us what we are lacking in ourselves. It triggers our selfish pride, greed, insecure determination to prove our worth, and humanness.
And it gives us the chance to overcome all these sins by leaving that pain at the foot of the Cross.
Human suffering. The toll is great. The act of forgiveness is other-worldly.
The world doesn’t forgive. They bring up all our faults to prevent Truth from being heard. It is meant to demean and demoralize us.
We can rise above it in charity.
Love our enemies. Love the liars. Every one of them bring us opportunities to grow in self-denial.
How far do we have to go?
Read the newspaper and see the increasing lies people fall for. It divides relationships and families.
The deceptions taught to children are the worst. To deceive an unformed or ill-formed conscience in the young is the rape of a pure soul. It is something that cannot be easily undone. Not without prayer and intervention.
Yet through it all, we, as Catholics, must persevere. Counter lies with Truth. Do not get caught up in the deceptions or dragged down to the deceiver’s level. Rise above it. Anchor yourself in the Truth of the Gospel and the teachings of the Church.
And don’t confuse the teachings of opinions as the teachings of the Church. Learn your Faith. When you are anchored on the Rock, you will not be moved by the lies around you.
Deceptions are coming faster and more furiously than before. Seek God first and all the lies of the world will be revealed against His Light of Truth. You will remain sheltered in the God in Whom you put your trust.
To Whom do you owe your allegiance? Yourself? The liars? God?
You have a choice before you.
Choose wisely.