Telling
Lies

You know, there are all sorts of Wrong Actions that can seem like a good idea at the time,

but that turn out not to have been such a good idea later.

Humans have such a hard time trying to tell what is good and bad for themselves.

Some think that Telling Lies is a harmless thing to do,

especially when they do it to get out of sticky situations,

when they don't want to face up to the truth,

and it seems like it would be much easier to avoid it by telling a lie.

But there are reasons why Telling Lies is bad for them as well as those around them.

It is always best for them to face the truth,

because if they don't, truth comes back to face them in the end.

Especially because those who tell lots of lies to different people

can find it hard to remember just what lies they have told to whom.

Then even worse,

they can tell so many lies that they forget what it was that they used to think was true,

and they just get lost in a maze of lies of their own making.

If we tell other people lies,

we never get to know

what they would have said or done

if we had told them the truth.

So if we tell other people lies we never really get to know

the truth of what's going on around us,

which isn't good for ourselves.

So to be in the Deen, we avoid Telling Lies,

but we have to understand what kind of lies.

For we are allowed to tell tall tales,

flights of fancy,

stories which make us think and imagine.

This is how we come to understand our world.

The difference is in the intention.

When tall tales are told, the listener knows

that these stories may not be true,

but are meant to entertain, enchant and delight,

and may also be a way of talking about the truth.

The lie to be avoided is told to deceive someone else

for selfish reasons.

Our Deen depends on our intentions