Reflection:

Truth is immovable. It brings about only what it sees and hears, so let’s contemplate what St. Hildegard is saying here: “for many truths are so immovable that they are not able to move even themselves.” 

I think this is why the guilt of sin forces us to either deny the truth, oppose it, or repent and make a confession. Let’s begin with a little self-reflection on the urge to lie.

Do I Live in Falseness or Embrace the Truth?

St. Hildegard defines falseness as “speaking about the things that I do not see or hear.” Ask yourself, do I imagine scenarios in my mind and then believe the falseness of what I have imagined? Perhaps this is what Judas Iscariot did when after betraying Christ he told himself that the only viable option for him was suicide. The tragic lie Judas told himself was that Jesus would never forgive him. He presumed he would be condemned for his sin so he went ahead and condemned himself. Judas was guilty of self-hatred.

But maybe your sinful inclinations are not directed toward self-hatred. Instead you instigate hatred toward your brothers and sisters because you may believe as St. Hildegard says, “lifting up another makes me fall down.” Ask yourself, are my stories a form of gossip about others? Are they lies about myself to cover my sins toward my neighbor so that I look good and my neighbor looks bad? Do I tell things about others that can’t be proven because they are false, yet I do this anyway to destroy their reputation so that I am seen as a better person?

The Consequence of Deception

We are reminded by Scripture that “the lying tongue is its owner’s enemy” (Psalms 26:28). Let’s contemplate the consequences of deception in the home, among friends, in the community, in the church, in our nation and in the world. 

Lord have mercy on us and heal us of all falseness. 

St. Hildegard uses a tree to visualize this phenomena:

We can imagine this giant tree of truth before us with its enormous trunk and deep roots. We can’t move it. We can try to cut it down at great effort but we will not remove the roots. Even if the truth is hidden from others and only the stump remains, in our conscience we know that the roots are there beneath the surface and they point to the truth of the matter. They cannot be destroyed. 

If we embrace falsehood rather than choose truth, we will avoid repenting of that hidden sin. 

The urge to lie will drive us to do one of three things: 

• We may first close our eyes and pretend it isn’t there –walking around it like we don’t know it exists even though we do. 
• Once the lie grows large enough we may try to hide it from view by distracting ourselves and others from seeing it. 
• And finally, when the lie begins to overpower us, we may desperately try to destroy the truth at all costs. We may oppose it through aggressive means, we may destroy everything that we believe represents it, and sadly, we may choose to destroy ourselves from the weight of it on our consciences. 

Only when we humbly admit the truth about the tree’s existence will we have the courage to look directly at it and recognize it is there before us, the towering unmovable truth. We may even decide to take advantage of its height, and its shade, and live beneath it’s great towering wisdom; we are all sinful and in need of a Savior and we have a Savior desperately in love with us and wanting to reconcile with us. To embrace the truth we must recognize our sinfulness and our desperate need for Jesus to deliver us from our evil inclinations and our sinful past. When we embrace the truth we will recognize, like Peter did after he denied Jesus three times, that the love of Christ is a greater power than our past sins and our urge to lie.

What Happens when I Repent from the Urge to Lie?

When I repent I am finally freed from the urge to lie about myself. I finally embrace the truth. God enters into my brokenness and heals me with his loving merciful grace. With my humble repentance he comes and gives me a right mind willing to embrace the virtue of honesty through courage and humility. I am no longer the center of my life, and instead God is my center. I am freed to move and act and exist in the truth according to his plan for my life. And in time, I am made whole again, fundamentally changed and renewed by Christ. I am able to begin a new life in Christ.

What if I Oppose the Truth?

Of course, if I oppose this tree of truth I will despise it. I will relocate to a place where I can no longer see it. Perhaps I believe that if I block it from my view it somehow no longer exists. But the immovable truth will remain regardless. Instead of avoiding guilt, my guilt will fester and grow. And if I am stubborn my opposition to truth will grow. And if I allow this to grow, I will continue to spiral toward self-destruction, like a snowball effect, until I finally succeed in destroying my soul. 

The Immovable Truth Always Overwhelms Falseness

This is how we treat the truth. We either try to destroy it, try to pretend it doesn’t exist, or we embrace it and acknowledge it for what it is and we live in it, reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, with peace of heart. The truth is and always will be immovable. It remains in your conscience because you are made in the image and likeness of God. You were made to be in right relationship with God and to live in the truth. You cannot escape the roots of truth. You can deny it, try to hide it, run as far away from it as possible, but deep in your heart it remains, always. You are hard-wired to know the truth and live in it. Until you do you will never be set free. He is with you and until you accept him and allow him to be in you and work through you, this angst will remain. 

Jesus says, ““I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Let’s come to the Father through Christ and embrace the truth of the Gospel and be reconciled, repenting of the urge to lie and embracing the truth about ourselves and the world. We all fall short of the glory of God, but through Christ we are all called to rebirth and renewal. We are called to remain in his Word, to know the truth, and to be set free by it.

Going Further:

If you’d like to spend more time this week contemplating the eternal consequence of the urge to lie, read Acts 5:1-11. This is where we read the tragic story about Ananias and Sapphira. 

Let us Pray:

Now that we understand the virtue of honesty, let’s begin with a prayer of petition for it.