HONESTY!

By -
Honesty- may well be the most difficult moral challenge facing any us.

Honesty with ourselves- with each other-with our higher power. Honesty eludes so many of us because we are simply afraid to tell the truth. Plain and simple--we are afraid to tell the truth. Who knows why or where the fear comes from that leads to the dishonesty...but walls go up and lies lay the foundation and the future is fueled by false fantasies of what we want to believe is true--when deep down inside we know that we are lying.

There's often no pre-meditation...no planning involved...no overt decision to be covert about the facts..The little white lies just roll out of our mouths, cloud our minds and our memories, until we begin to believe the mysterious tall tales and the seemingly innocuous remarks that are in fact outrageously outlandish lies.

Some of the most honest women I know, tonight-honestly shared the dishonesty of their former lives--with a mixture of laughter, disbelief and absolute-relief. It was contagious...listening to one human being cleanse themselves of their past imperfections and false facades. I chuckled thinking about my own blurred view of me--that's right--of the girl writing this blog. It used to scare me--looking at me...until I learned that our fear is usually greater than the reality of what we are facing.

So honestly--if you're able--just think about yourself...your view of yourself, your actions, your reactions...your feelings and your fantasies...How many of you really honestly know the real you-what makes you tick..and explode...or talk- when you want to implode...Honestly--how many times do you willingly sit down and take your personal inventory...so that you can get to the heart of who you are--instead of just living with the person you've become?

Seeing who we are--the good, the bad and the ugly...can be a little unnerving at first...but the more we face the reflection in the mirror...the easier it becomes to accept the truth...while at the same time--let go of the lies.

Honesty goes hand in hand with freedom...when we are honest with ourselves and others...we learn a freedom and a new way of life that we never imagined possible...and we find out--quite by accident...that honesty is not only the best policy--it leads to the most liberating, lovable life!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OUR LADY OF JOY, HANCEVILLE ALABAMA

By -
Image
High atop a hill in Hanceville Alabama, broken hearts are being healed and hope is being restored. Our Lady of Joyful Hope is a community of young men who are finding new freedom through a life of authentic truth. Once lost in the darkness of addiction they are now living in the light of Christ who is transforming them from the inside out...And their families, if they are open and willing, are being transformed right alongside them. Recently, I spent three days with this community, listening to the young men, their parents and to the foundress, Mother Elvira, who flew in from Italy for the anointing of the new community house and the celebration that followed. Mother Elvira's life story is on par with Mother Teresa. She is an Italian nun who heard the call from God to snatch souls from Satan by delivering young men and women from the demonic grip of addiction. She gave up everything familiar, walked straight into the wilderness and wound up becoming a living legacy for desperate fa
Read more

HRUSHIV UKRAINE: APPARITIONS OF THE BLESSED MOTHER

By -
Image
Twenty four years ago today, April 27, 1987 the Blessed Mother allegedly appeared in Hrushiv Ukraine with a warning and words of consolation. She came on the Feast of the Ascension, exactly one year after the nuclear reactor disaster at Chernobyl saying "Do not forget those who have died...Chernobyl is a reminder and a sign for the whole world." In 1990 while producing a television documentary in Ukraine, I visited Hrushi and interviewed a handful of people who had witnessed the apparition above the church of the Holy Trinity. In all, some five hundred thousand witnesses claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary over a four month period. Mary apparently told them she came to thank the Ukrainian people because they had suffered so much at the hands of a raging lion who had been prowling around seeking whom he could devour. She said their suffering would come to an end and one day Ukraine would become an independent state. She then urged disciplined, Christian fortitude, "
Read more

CONFESSIONS OF FATHER JOE BENSON

By -
As we sat in silence, meditating...I nudged my friend Terri, "What do we have to complain about?!" I whispered. There he hung, pain stricken, vulnerable in his nakedness, sharp thorns cutting into his head, pleading eyes fixed on the heavens. What I thought, on God's green earth, do I have to complain about?! That's probably why they do it...place the life like crucifix dead center-above the altar, just above the Blessed Sacrament, right where you can't miss it...just to remind us-things could be worse, but they're destined to get better-if we keep our eyes focused-on the solution. Another friend-likes to remind me-he's not on the cross anymore...So why do we keep him there? Every one's got an opinion, but to tell you the truth, I need to be reminded of the sacrifice...and every painful moment in between. Puts my problems in perspective...helps me see clearly...gives me strength to proceed. We went to first Friday adoration in the upper ninth ward..
Read more