Creative Lies

 

Great people lie

Not so great people do too,

It’s a culture, a way of life

It’s a point of view.

For whatever reasons

The rich, the poor and not so rich

Lying has become a hobby

It is even a sales pitch.

It didn’t start yesterday

But you’ll find it in the Bible

By the heathen and the pagan

Even by God’s people.

People lie due to temptation

People lie to deceive,

People lie to hide the truth

And then the lie they believe.

Let us go back to the Bible

And recall its origin:

A journey to back to Eden

And there we will begin.

“I have as much right.”

At first it was just a thought

But it cost Eve a lot

For into that lie she bought.

It started as an insinuation

Then she yielded to the temptation,

She fell for the devil’s deception

And disobeyed God’s instruction.

O the devil was creative

He didn’t put it in plain sight

But cunningly impressed Eve

That she had now seen the light.

“Hath God said?” he asked

And as a result introduced doubt.

Eve fell for the lie

And from Eden was driven out.

  

“Where are you?” God had inquired

To which Adam and Eve replied

“We saw that we were naked

And decided that we should hide.”

Of course this was an attempt

To cover up their disobedient act,

The devil’s lie had bought another

And they were on the lying track.

And there the culture began

From Mrs. Adam it proceeded to Cain

That killed his brother Abel

And tried to shift the blame.

“Where is your brother?” God had asked

To which Cain had replied,

“Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Attempting the truth to hide.

Abraham the father of the faithful

He was caught in a lie as well

When he implied Sarah was his sister

And as his wife she dare not tell.

This did not happen once

But it actually happened twice

The first in Egypt and next Gerar

Clearly his faith had not sufficed

As in the case of the Adam’s family

So in the case of Abraham’s:

Isaac too had followed suit

And his lie followed a similar plan.

He called Rebekah his sister

After he had taken her to wife

And the reason why he lied

Was because he feared for his life.

Jacob, Abraham and Isaac’s son

Was even worse that they,

He was given the name supplanter

Lying was a game he played.

That’s how he got the blessing

With the aid of his father’s wife

And the resulting enmity with Esau

Caused quite a bit of strife.

 

Jacob lived a life of lying

But others cheated him too

As in the case of Laban his uncle

That hid his beloved Rachel from view.

Jacob worked seven years for her

But was forced to wed Leah instead

Thus having to work another seven years

Before he could have Rachel to wed.

Then Jacob’s own children

Lied concerning their brother

When they had sold him into Egypt,

Well that is another matter.

A second time it happened to Joseph

And he was on the receiving end,

Potiphar’s wife had lied against him

When to her request he did not bend.

I could go on and on and on

About lies in the Old Testament

But I turn my attention to the New

And there focus my intent.

Peter and his “I know him not”

He denied he knew the man,

Jesus surely had not acted

According to Peter’s plan.

He had allowed himself to be taken

Without even putting up a fight

And as far as Peter was concerned

This could never ever be right.

A set of lies were trumped up

Against Jesus the Nazarene

So that they could crucify him

And get him off the scene.

Notwithstanding this was the purpose

That God had conceptualized

One still cannot ignore

The role that was played by lies.

It was still a miscarriage of justice

The greatest there ever has been

When the death penalty was given

To Jesus the Nazarene.

Let’s turn to the book of the Acts

And there a frightening story read

How a husband and wife lied

In an attempt to satisfy their greed.

 

I speak of Ananias and Sapphira

Who contrived together to deceive

When they sold their land for one price

And kept some of what they received.

They lied regarding the sale

And pretended to donate it all,

That day the Holy Spirit exposed them

As they succumbed to the grim reaper’s call.

Satan is called the father of lies

It is his very nature to deceive,

With him lying is an addiction

He does it with the greatest of ease.

You would recall he did it with Jesus

As he tempted him in the wilderness

Offering him what he did not own

This was the ultimate of tests.

There and then Jesus rebuked him

And commanded him to leave

Satan had won that battle with Adam

But with Jesus he could not succeed.

Yes the Bible has in lies

But they are lies that people told:

Lies by people of all types

Lies by the cowardly and the bold.

These days are so replete with lies

One hardly knows whom to trust,

So many have lost their integrity

That this is accepted without fuss.

The lies have become so creative

And sometimes sound like the truth

And people are wont to believe them

Often without proof.

And how the names have evolved

Ever since the very beginning!

Fake news and alternative facts

Are only two since their origin.

Falsehoods and untruths

Are two more of the commonly known

But I found a list of forty

Wow! How the names for lies have grown.

Deception and Distortion

Equivocation and exaggeration

Fabrication and falsification

Misinformation and misrepresentation

Misconception and Misinterpretation

Obliquity and perjury

Slander, white lies and half-truths

All synonyms for falsified stories.

Creative words for creative lies

Euphemistic in their approach,

A rose is still a rose by any other name

So is a lie when we dare to encroach.

 

The first response to the first question asked

Was in fact a creative lie.

“Hath God said?” The devil asked

“Neither shall ye touch it,” was in Eve’s reply.

Got had said nothing about touch

But Eve had added in that,

Enough to contaminate the truth:

This was the first alternative fact.

Stewart Russell © June 2018