Over the Limit

We were watching the movie, "Flight," last night. It didn't make me anymore comfortable about flying.  I like to be in control of the steering wheel because I know my mindset.  Anyway, the story is about a pilot with alcoholism and drug addiction.  I won't go into the whole movie, but at the end, he is in front of a group of people and makes the statement, "It was as if I had reached my life-long limit of lies...I just couldn't tell one more lie." 

Sometimes lying isn't bad. During times when life is in danger, as it was in WWII when people were hiding Jewish people and other potential prisoners of war, lying may be necessary. 

Lying as a way of life, lying to hide a bad habit, lying to manipulate isn't healthy. In those cases,
lying is like a slow poison.  Lying corrupts your character.  It is a lethal injection to trust.  Lying debilitates your soul.  Addiction and lying are a couple.  They travel together, scheme together, contaminate together. Lying is the fuel for addiction. 

But his statement made me think about that concept of 'life-long limit of lying.' We all lie.  I've lied.  Small lies, surprise party lies, "I love that gift" lies.  I don't like how I feel, even with those types of lies.  I like honesty.  Hard as it may be to hear at times, it gives me a cleaner feel on the inside than lying does.  Lying creates a dark film on the inside.  It makes situations harder to understand and mange.  The more lying you do,  the more layers of that dark, internal film are wrapped around your conscience and the more tied up your conscience gets, the less consequences bother you.  Perhaps, lying becomes its own drug in some cases. 

I think it is dangerous to lie, even when it's necessary.  I think each time you tell a lie, your 'life filter' becomes more clogged. It becomes harder to determine right from wrong.  Good from bad.  Your sense of trust gets diverted and I think it begins to detach you from humanity.  One lie, here or there, and your conscience has an opportunity to reset its self.  Lying all or most of the time as a way of life holds your conscience captive. 

The students I work with lie.  To some, lying has become embedded so deeply into their character that the truth is rarely spoken.  I have watched a child take another child's pencil.  I'll ask them, "Why did you take their pencil?"  "I didn't take it."  "I watched you."  "I didn't do it."  "Yes, you did."  "No, I never took it.  I found it on my desk."    They don't appreciate or understand how the lying is bad for them.  They use lying to manipulate their circumstances at all times, until the circumstance becomes so convoluted that you have to walk away because they just either refuse or can't see the truth.  It's scary to me that this young generation has such little respect for the truth.

If we do have a 'lying limit' I believe it is different for all of us.  As with everything else, we all tolerate things differently at different levels.  Lying is tricky, though.  Because it does distort reality so subtly, it is hard to see when you've crossed that line into believing your own lies. 

"You will know the truth and the truth will set you free."  Lying holds a person captive. It binds them to a false way of thinking and living.  Lying stunts inner growth, ruins reputations and breaks relationships. You really are as sick as your secrets, and that's the truth.