A SMALL LIE

Just a small lie, a subtle mistruth,

(we know, don’t we?). How well

We can rationalise it, excuse it;

 

Pretend it never happened.

Lies, mistruths; the things we say,

Become public property, develop

a life and will of their own.

 

They are seeds in the ground.

They grow, adapt and morph

Into shapes beyond our imagination,

Our nightmares. One seed becomes a plant.

 

That plant produces more seeds.

They multiply. Do you realise how scary

that image is? Dozens, hundred, thousands

Of “little lies”, “subtle mistruths” growing,

 

Demanding to be fed. A picture forms.

“The Little Shop of horrors” scenario.

Neither amusing nor irrelevant.

Our “little secret” is no longer little,

 

It’s demanding to be fed, it doesn’t want plant food.

It’s demanding substantive nourishment,

Truth, Integrity, Honesty, Regard for Human Life;

We feed it, we dare not; hate what we’re doing;

 

Do it anyway. We’ve lied to ourselves (that was easy);

We’ve lied to others; we’ve lied to cover the first mistruth,

Then the second, the third; will it never stop?

“Fake it until you make it”, you say to yourself,

“It’s all part of the journey”. The “what if” factor.

 

Tempting, isn’t it? Preferable to 

“HOW EASILY EVIL TRAPS US ?”

 

That’s what makes a good leader? Isn’t it?

It’s the skill and ability to ACT than not, surely?

(inaction is an action, a choice)

While our words conspire against us,

 

we establish a comfort zone, like an addict,

Rationalising our behaviour, rejecting all and any

Analysis of our actions or criticisms of our motives.

“I didn’t mean to,” we say; it was foolish

 

(Is “I’m only human” a reasonable excuse?).

A responsible human being would know not

To have lied in the first place.

Evil is defined as an external force, an act, an action

 

Evil has a scale from the least to the most

We are aware a thing/action is "wrong"

Once we stray, the way back is through redemption,

Admitting to your fault, seeking how to recompense

 

its victims, resolve the situation. Only a fully aware

Human beings are capable of doing it. However hard

or challenging it is. It was only a small lie, a subtle mistruth.

It grew, and grew; stop it growing, please!!!