Lenten Reflections: Truth?

"What is truth?" Pilate asked" - John 18:38

A lie brings satisfaction. Somewhere deep within the recesses of our soul, a carefully crafted lie will appease the deepest desire that screams to be filled. Lies inflate our ego. Lies fill us with pride. Lies transform us into something that we're not. A Lie is existence lived in reverse. Backward reality.  

Lies create a false reality in exchange for the living breathing life that surrounds us. Lies reject the positive in exchange for the negative. Lies feed us, but we remain starving.

Satisfaction, but still longing. 

Filled, but empty. 

Selfless, but selfish.

Finished, but just beginning. 

Creation, but left with destruction. 

Life, but death.
 
We stagger around, in constant states of confusion, choosing whatever lie that will bring temporary satisfaction. Rather than embracing the truth of God that will bring lasting peace, we choose lies and accept the turmoil that eventually develops. This is the root of all rebellion. 

Like a drug, lies perpetuate a temporary existence in exchange for permanence. Chaos in exchange for peace. Life in exchange for death.

During Lent, we confront the lies that consume our lives and come face to face with the realization that we very often choose fantasy over reality. Lent produces for us a mirror that reveals to us someone we hardly know. 

Lent reveals to us that it was not only the Sanhedrin that condemned Christ unjustly, but you and I did as well. It was not only Pilate that rejected truth in exchange for lies, but we do the same thing on a regular basis. Lent is coming to grips with the unsettling reality that we sent Christ to His cross, and to this day, we crucify those around us, we're just more subtle about it.

Lord, as we continue to make our way through Lent, we realize that we often choose the lies over your truth; maybe more often than we know. We also realize that within the Kingdom of God, there are no lies. Help us this day to reveal the Kingdom, and in essence, reveal your truth to the false cultures around us. Amen.