Tag Archives: truth

Biography

Biography: (n) an account of someone’s life written by someone else.

Dictionary B

An autobiography: lies I am willing to share about myself.

A biography: lies which others are willing to share about me.

  • Truth is more precious than gold.
  • It is also more difficult to find.
  • It is also more frightening than all the demons of hell.

The reason that truth is avoided is that we cannot control the reaction of others. Since life seems to be about finding favor among our fellows, we try to extract the best rendition of the story of our choices.

So we are often disappointed to discover that the biography of the life of someone we revere fails to mention some of the flaws while also exaggerating the virtues.

Is it possible to produce a biography which is faithful to the facts without tainting the subject of our story so much that people are left unimpressed?

When we consider the statement that “truth makes us free,” what we come up with is that if the truth were spoken about each of us, we are freed from the need to judge others, knowing how easy it would be for them to judge us.

But as long as the human race wants to put white hats on the good guys and black hats on the bad guys … we probably will never learn to affix gray hats on us all. 

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Bellow

Bellow: (v) to emit a deep loud roar, typically in pain or anger.

Dictionary B

I do not really want to hear what you have to say about how you hear what I have to say.

That’s the truth.

All my ways seem right to me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t do them because then I would have to admit I was wrong. That also can be very painful.

But somewhere along this journey we call life, we have to realize that we are not alone and our opinions not only fail to be superior, but in many cases, are insignificant.

I may have a conversation with my children, my friends or my partners in business and feel that I have a completely rational tone, filled with reasonable proposals. Yet if I asked them what they are hearing, they will explain that they feel intimidated, criticized and even might perceive my approach to be “bellowing.”

In response to their accusations, I bellow, “I am not bellowing!”

I’m not so sure what ultimate maturity is supposed to look like. I’m not positive that I understand all aspects of human relationships, or even could write a decent pamphlet on the subject.

But I know this:

If another human being tells me that they hear me bellowing at them, attacking them or expressing displeasure in their direction, the only way to ever maintain that friendship is to listen to what they are proposing … and at least consider that the volume coming back my way is much less than what they’re hearing.

 

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Befuddle

Befuddle: (v) to make someone unable to think clearly.Dictionary B

It all boils down to one question:

What do you want?

Do you want to look good or do you want to live with the truth?

They aren’t the same, you know.

The truth does make you free. But if your goal in life is to look good, freedom doesn’t always achieve that purpose. Freedom just makes it possible for you to walk around without guilt.

That’s why the truth befuddles human beings.

We actually see no advantage to telling the truth–because we prefer lying and deceiving our fellow-travelers to telling the truth and sleeping well.

The truth befuddles.

It befuddles politicians because then they’re stuck with their record, which is always a mingling of achievement and carelessness.

It befuddles theologians because the obvious question of “now, how is God different from Santa Claus?” makes them defensive and causes them to fall back into an attack mode of scriptural brattiness.

It befuddles the educational system, because just about the time we are convinced that education has progressed us, new knowledge shows up to confound the wise.

And since we do not want to appear befuddled, we select to become aggressive and childish, protecting our egos at all cost.

Befuddled is the ridiculous idea that we should always be in a position of power. What could be more silly?

Why would we think that any part of creation would have the advantage of understanding all creation?

I never met a dog who was actually aware of my needs.

Why would I think that I, a mere mortal, should not occasionally be befuddled, since I don’t hold the keys to any kingdom … but only find myself stuck in traffic?

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Beetle

Beetle: (n) an insect of an order distinguished by forewingsDictionary B

It’s a language which I have affectionately, but sarcastically, dubbed “Marjorian.”

It was named in honor of a woman I once knew named Marjory.

Marjory had developed a way of speaking in which she would address any problem that ended up falling in her front yard with very gentle language, while summarizing the actions of others she did not like with more sinister terms.

Let me give you an example.

When Marjory’s daughter became pregnant in high school, she insisted they had planned on having the young girl marry her beau, but the pavilion they wanted to use was not available, so normally the pregnancy would have fallen after the marriage, but preceded it only because of a scheduling conflict.

Yet when the young girl next door found herself with an unwanted pregnancy at age seventeen, Marjory whispered to the neighbors that “the lass was a tramp” and that such declining morals were ruining our country.

She spoke Marjorian–a language generous to oneself while condemning to others.

I bring this up because one day I was sitting in Marjory’s home and a bug crawled across the floor. Instinctively I leaped to my feet and crushed it with my foot. I knew the insect to be a roach. When I identified the bug to Marjory, she immediately disagreed and said, “No, no. That’s a beetle.”

Apparently it was completely respectable to have a beetle crawl across your floor but not a roach.

Being in a playful mood, I picked up the remains of the bug and carried it over to Marjory, causing her to launch into a hissy fit.

I put it toward her face, showing her that this bug had no wings, and was therefore not a beetle.

Without missing a beat, Marjory countered by saying that “it was a Japanese beetle. They don’t have wings.”

I immediately realized that Marjory had no idea of the flight habits of the Japanese beetle. But it was not worth arguing about, so I tossed the carcass into the garbage can, finished my conversation and coffee and was on my way.

I have met many people who have their own dialect of “Marjorian” language, but it always amazes me that after all the claims are made, all the exaggerations espoused and all the false belief preached, that somehow or another… the truth still has a way of winning the day.

 

 

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Beef

Beef: (n) the flesh of a cow, bull, or ox, used as food.Dictionary B

It’s always a battle over three distinctly different approaches:

  • What I know
  • What I think
  • What ends up being true

Actually, most of us don’t know much of anything for certain. What we claim to know is usually an advanced stage of belief. In other words, people will tell you they know there’s a heaven, but that’s because they believe it very strongly.

Knowing is tough. Yet if we act like we don’t know, people accuse us of being dumb. So often, we insist we know without really knowing.

Which brings us to think.

Think is a dangerous combination of prejudice, upbringing and bad experience which we have equated with certainty as being valid. Of course, it can be good experience which leaves us idealistic.

But here’s the kicker: most people blend what they think and what they know and call it truth.

That’s why we fight all the time. Because what you think and know is not what I think and know.

So we have to be extremely humble about what we know, and mighty careful about what we think. Otherwise we will soon miss what ends up being true.

Thus…beef.

From year to year, the opinion on beef has gone from being an excellent source of protein to a murderer of the human heart.

If you bring the subject up, some folks will tell you they’re vegetarians because they want to be healthy, and other folks will never eat a vegetable unless steak has become one.

So once again, we’re stuck on this “think” and “know”–in danger of failing to find out what is true.

Beef is actually no different from prunes. You know the old saying about prunes: Are two enough? Are six too many?

Because if you eat just the right number of prunes, you will have happy times in the bathroom. If you eat too many, you will experience frequent toilet miles.

The same is true with beef.

Eat it every once in a while, and it is an immense builder of protein and strength for your body.

Eat too much beef and it turns into all sorts of heartfelt problems.

So take the time to be careful about what you know. And always be cautious to preface what you think with those glorious words, “In my opinion…”

Because truth eventually stumbles along. And the truth of the matter is, beef is like everything else:

It’s good until it becomes bad.

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Bandage

Bandage: (n) a strip of material used to bind a wound or to protect an injured part of the body.Dictionary B

The reason “the truth makes you free” is that you do not have to exhaust yourself finding new hiding places for your stupidity.

During a particularly stubborn point in my life, I developed an infection in my left big toe.

I didn’t think much about it. At first it just looked like athlete’s foot. (Matter of fact, that’s what I called it. I was rather proud to be athletic enough to have a corresponding foot.)

But it got worse. It festered and then spread to my nearby toe, so I had two little fellas who were now unable to go to market.

My denial increased.

I did not want to go to the doctor with it because I felt ridiculous asking a man of medicine to deal with “my little piggies.”

It began to seep pus, having to be bandaged every day by a friend of mine, who was so gracious that she pretended it wasn’t a big deal.

After a while, it stunk.

She and I pretended like it didn’t, so as to keep propriety moving along properly. Then it started turning black.

That’s not good.

So I tried more home remedies, and convinced myself on a daily basis that it appeared to be healing. I even bought some silver over the Internet because it was referred to as an “old-fashioned antibiotic” that I could pour on the wound and believe I had discovered some great medical elixir of the gods.

My toe got so sick that it finally made all of me sick. I went to the hospital, but was too late to save the two toes, so they were amputated.

I hope I haven’t grossed you out with my story, and if you’re still reading it, you must have a great constitution.

But here’s the truth about bandages:

They were created to cover a wound while it’s healing … not disguise a wound that needs treatment.

 

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Banal

Banal: (adj) so lacking in originality as to be obvious and boring.Dictionary B

It’s one of those words.

If you actually find yourself using it, you seem to be an individual with a stick up your backside (and I don’t mean a scarecrow).

And also, it’s very difficult to speak against popular trends, even if you feel like you’re doing it out of a sense of preserving the integrity of the human race.

But there certainly are things going on in our society that are banal.

And it is equally as certain that to fold your arms, climb up on your soapbox and preach against them makes you age right in front of the eyes of your audience–until you appear to be Grandpa Grump.

So what can we do with banality?

Is it really dangerous or just a passing fancy which causes people to run hither, thither and yon in the quest for acceptability?

I do have a rather “live and let live” philosophy–except when it comes to one category: lying.

Lying is not negotiable.

Since we live in a free country, if someone wants to construct a statue of Satan and put it next to the Washington Monument, I could not care less. Why? Because in less than 20 years other people will tear it down because it’s stupid.

But on the other hand, if we want to begin to believe that lying is a part of the human psyche, beyond our control, and give ourselves a free pass to propagate deceit, then we are dealing with a dangerous bomb which can destroy the relationships of people and the essence of our Republic.

Why is lying so bad? Because we cease to believe in the truth.

And since the truth is what makes us free … our lies will end up being the chains that bind us.

 

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Bamboozle

Bamboozle: (v) to fool or cheat someone.Dictionary B

Just as there should not be a question mark at the end of the word “love,” there cannot be any elastic inserted into “truth.”

It is hard for me to understand that.

Being a member of the human race living in the 21st Century, I am accustomed to measuring out what other folks tell me, attempting to determine how much of it is the truth, and how much is a fairy tale.

Yet I am still at the mercy of my own promo talk. What is promo talk? It consists of the little lies we insert into stories, or the padding we add to our resume to bamboozle our listeners into thinking that we are more than we actually are.

It is so commonplace that it is budgeted into the bottom line of everyone’s blubbery personal assessment.

We just assume that people are going to give us misinformation.

Now, misinformation used to be called exaggeration, and many centuries ago, exaggeration was deemed to be lying.

But with the introduction of politicians, entertainers, preachers and people trying to lose weight, we have become a nation of bamboozlers.

So each week I try to take on one little piece of promo talk which has become a part of my ongoing story, and delete it, like it’s a useless icon on my computer, that should be carried over to my trash can.

What does this do for me?

It eliminates a piece of crap. I am no longer responsible for the stinky.

Yes, it is so much easier to tell the truth. Then you don’t have to explain.

And it is so much better to stand on what you really are instead of trying to bamboozle your way into a position … where you more than likely will fall on your face. 

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Avow

Avow: (v) to assert or confess openly.

They call it allocution.dictionary with letter A

It is the action demanded of a criminal in a court case when a guilty plea has been accepted and it becomes his or her responsibility to admit to all of the facets and details of the crime.

Even though we demand this from the more sinister members of our society, we do not require it of the common man or woman.

The most popular rendition of denying one’s previous deeds is the apology. I think we all would agree that an apology from a murderer in a courtroom would not only be insufficient, but insulting. And the lack of requiring that people avow their involvement–good or bad–in a situation gives enough wiggle room that we are never quite certain of what is true and what is false.

When truth becomes a bouncing ball, it’s not safe for anyone to play.

Very recently, I have become convinced of the intelligence of coming clean. It’s a three-step process:

  1. I come to myself.

I realize I have done or am doing something unfruitful, perhaps even wrong.

  1. I come to the facts.

I decide what would be an accurate assessment of my situation and how to phrase it in such a way that I could unburden my conscience and clarify my need for repentance.

  1. I come to others.

It simply is not enough for us to be aware of our own frailties. We gain power and position when those around us know we can be trusted because they have heard us be honest about uncomfortable matters.

It is certainly much more popular to disavow–to distance oneself from causes or endeavors that have proven to be detrimental. But the ability to avow one’s involvement, positive or negative, is the trigger for our trust of those we love or those we wish to lead us.

 

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Audible

Audible: (adj) able to be heard

dictionary with letter A

Can you hear it?

Trust me, it’s there.

A whisper of reason

A breath of common sense

A wish that is being quietly mumbled from tentative lips

There are still people who believe in belief.

There are souls who lovingly pursue love.

And there are dreamers who are willing to share their dreams.

Yet noise can be alarming.

Screams and shouts often interrupt the prayers of the children.

How can we tune our ears to hear the good things in a world filled with the blaring sounds of insane conflict?

I don’t listen too much to the news.

I don’t stay in a room where bigotry is being proclaimed as truth.

I don’t hunt and peck with a gaggle of gossips.

In a world filled with bubbles, I have selected my enclosure.

It is sound-proof to the rattling of sabres and the insistence on war.

It has closed out a community of covetousness, which pleads for more, while ignoring what it already has.

It is an atmosphere where the natural melody of a human voice is preferred over the mechanical interpretation via an I-phone.

For after all, a “Book of Faces” does not provide a great body of proof.

You have to listen carefully.

You have to tune your spirit, like an excellent radio, to the frequency you wish to become the soundtrack of your life.

Truth is audible.

It’s just not very loud.

So if you feel overwhelmed by the volume, be prepared to be underwhelmed … by the content.

 

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