I had a conversation with my husband about truth and honesty. If you look at movies, plays, and books, often especially in dramas and comedies, the conflict comes about because people aren’t totally honest with each other. It isn’t that people lie to each other. It’s more a matter of people don’t say things because they don’t want to hurt someone else’s feelings. The movies usually do well, because it is something we can all relate to.
Except, I don’t really like doing that and I don’t understand doing it very often. I know that I do it as part of the social convention, but I don’t like it. That came out in my conversation with my husband. I know that I can say anything to him. I trust him with everything, even my life. I know that I can tell him exactly what I think and feel and even if it hurts him, he will accept what I have to say. He knows he can do the same with me. That’s a special and unique relationship, but I think we should be that way with everyone. I want to be able to be honest with everyone and to tell them what I think and feel. The truth will always come out and it will set you free.
How can you accept someone if you can’t be honest about who they are? I want to be able to accept myself, but first I have to learn who I am, even if who I am is painful because I am not perfect and I am flawed. That’s the problem with being honest with others. They don’t want to see the truth about themselves and if I am honest about myself and them, then I am forcing them to see a truth they don’t want to see or they aren’t ready to see yet. It is a very fine line.
And so it goes back to what I can control and what I can’t control. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. I had horrible arguments with my mother because I tried so hard to make her understand the truth, but no matter what I said she was incapable of seeing the truth. So, under some circumstances, there’s a reason to not be totally honest. I can’t force someone to accept something that they aren’t ready to accept. Jesus knew this and that’s why He told the parable of the Sower’s seeds. As much as I want the world to be perfect and for everyone to always speak the truth, I must admit that it isn’t and sometimes we just aren’t ready to face the difficult truth. So, my best today is to pray for God’s peace in all of our hearts.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
