November 04, 2011
Saying Something Nice
Most of us grew up with hearing the guiding words, ‘If you can’t say
something nice, don’t say anything at all’. Recently at a going-away party for
a colleague people were invited to say a few words. I expected the normal
accolades like, ‘you’ve done a good job…, we will miss you…, best wishes on
your new job…’, however one speaker said of the honoree, “He doesn’t lie. I appreciate that he’s never lied.” At the time
the sentiments struck me as a bit odd and I couldn’t help but mentally
question, ‘So that’s the nicest thing you can come up with?’ However, after
more thought I decided what’s the big deal…if the Lord is delighted everything
is good. “The
LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in
men who are truthful.” (Pro 12:22 NIV)
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----That someone has never lied is a practical truth, actually, no one but Jesus has never lied. It is just that the deception in many never rises to a recognizable significance. Bias is not only deeply entrenched in every person, it is a process of favoring some evidence over the other or even twisting evidence a little, then spinning it all into mixes tilted a bit towards a desired conclusion. Even at the sub-conscious level where most bias operates rather beyond our conscious control, it is still a process of deceit. That is why Paul tells us in Romans 3:4, “Let God be true though every man be false.” Yet a person must admit that some people exert so much conscious attention and effort to being truthful and honest that they practically never lie. And so we like to state their accomplishment actually.
-----I don’t know the party. I don’t know the departing colleague. I don’t know the speaker. So I especially must admit the possibility that the speaker only wished to throw one trait into the conversation. On the other hand, it could have been a very calculated proclamation meant to express deeply if you give it a moment of thought, and not obscured by the clutter of anything else said. He may have been speaking beyond the fact that the departing colleague simply never told lies, but also to the fact he was practically an honest and unbiased thinker, too.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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