There was a time when we trusted our parents, our teachers, our politicians, our clergy, our media! There was a time when we trusted, believed. That time is past, it is no more. The truth is whatever we decide it is; there are always alternative facts, so said Kelly Ann Conway, personal advisor to the then President Trump! This was within 2 weeks of his inauguration, when he was discussing crowd size. There were pictures showing that Barack Obama had twice the crowd on the Washington Mall at his inauguration, but Trump and his cohorts stuck to those alternative facts, and those of weaker minds and with scant political information, who were lemming-like in their convictions, believed that lie, and the greater lie, later on, that the election was stolen! Despite all evidence, contrary to the ridiculous assertions, court rulings et al, they swallowed this whale of a lie, with an almost religious fervor.

I have knowingly lied, many times in my life, to my ex-wife, my friends, to people I don’t even know. We have all lied at some point in our lives, sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for more nefarious purposes. But I knew that they were lies, and maybe I felt guilty, or not, depending on the lie and to whom I was lying. If you are a religious person, you believe that Adam and Eve lied to God about eating the apple and were thrown out of Eden. An extreme punishment for a little”white lie”; don’t know why it couldn’t be a black lie, but whatever. My point is, lying has always been a part of our consciousness, and will always be. We know it when we’re committing that act, and usually we don’t intend it to harm anyone else. Our little secret that maybe we’ll own up to someday. Purify our minds.

There used to be universal truths. What a concept! Now, every fact is debatable, I say fact, as in that the earth isn’t flat. Nothing is the truth, and everything is the truth, according to one’s point of view. The vicissitudes of politics or nature or religion and life, are so stark these days. Consensus on things we see with our very eyes, every day, become points of contention, depending on our beliefs. Truth is malleable and overestimated, and pointless, in some cases.

So here we are, a world in chaos and upheaval — our governments, our clergy, our police, our media, lying to us without compunction! Or are they? I guess it depends on your point of view. “The truth will set you free!” I suppose we are all prisoners of alternative facts. I think that we all have to keep that little oil in our lamps burning. To keep us grounded in truth and not being blinded by the glitz and glamor of wholesale deceit. It’s up to us to discern the truth, and some of that comes from looking deep inside ourselves! Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?

Glen