January 26 Martha's Musings

I was watching a TV show the other night, and one of the stars of the show had just received a job promotion. She was very excited about the opportunity, and her first responsibility was to go before a board of her superiors and explain why funds were needed for a specific project. Her boss had given her a script to follow, which she did, and all went well until a member of the board asked her a question which was not addressed in her prepared statement. She answered truthfully, which did not go over well, and the request for funds was denied. Her boss later explained that “the truth does not matter.” Upon hearing this, my little ears pricked up, and my little fingers began to type. “The truth does not matter”? Are you kidding me? If I recall correctly, and I do, “Thou shalt not lie” is one of the Top Ten, my personal term for the commandments. God could have given us any number of commandments, but he pared them down to ten, so we could remember them and focus on them. And any job, relationship, document, report, etc. that requires one to lie is just screaming at you to RUN! You do not want to be a part of anything that is based on falsehoods. That can become a bit of a mess, or a “sticky wicket” as my Mom would say. I always took that to mean something like quicksand – a lie will just pull you under and make it nearly impossible for you to pull yourself out. One of those times when prevention is the best idea – just do not lie in the first place. As usual, if we would just follow Our Creator’s handy list of things to do and things not to do, our lives would go so much smoother. Not necessarily easier, but definitely smoother.

Blessings,
Martha Arizpe, St. John’s Prayer Team