Face The Truth

23 Jan

“We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.”  ~ Denis Diderot

We shy away from anything that hurts us.  To protect ourselves physically, we avoid things that are hot, sharp, or in any way can injure us.  To protect ourselves emotionally, we avoid people that bring us down, insult us, or exclude us.  These defense mechanisms are meant to protect us.  However, if taken to the extreme, they can also harm us.

As I said, we don’t like to be hurt.  Yet, sometimes, the truth hurts.  In order to protect from being hurt, some people ignore the truth.  There are people who go to the doctor way too late because they were ignoring symptoms that they feared.  Because of their procrastination, they may be diagnosed with something that is past the ability to cure.  There are people who ignore the need to change because change is uncomfortable.  Yet, because they do not change, they find themselves left behind as others around them advance.

We find that in our spiritual lives as well.  We often ignore the signs that our relationship with God is in trouble.  Those signs — sin — should warn us of the jeopardy we embrace.  Because sin, especially habitual sin, can be “comfortable”, we decide that we are fine and that we are not going to do what needs to be done.  We ignore the Lord for our own comfort.  Some people learn too late that their decisions have placed them on a dangerous path away from God.

The truth is the truth.  It is not going to change.  It is not going to mellow.  It is not going to go away.  Shying away from it or avoiding it is not going to help us at all.  We need to take a good, hard look at our lives and determine the truth of our daily existence.  Are we on the right path or have we strayed?  What do we need to do?

FAITH ACTION:  Ask God for the grace to face the truth about yourself and then do your best to change as needed.