Is It Ever Okay to Lie, Ever?

I’ve been wrestling with a topic that I heard in an interview on the "To the Best of Our Knowledge" radio show that led to me reading a short book by the interviewee, Sam Harris, called “Lying”.  The author argues that we should never lie - not even a white lie - because it leads to a whole pattern of behavior in our lives that is unhealthy and unwise.  I'm a pretty truthful person, but I have found it necessary to lie to avoid hurting someone's feelings or get out of a touchy situation.  It didn’t feel right to do this, and I know it diminished my spirit, but in the moment it was the first thing my squirming intellect jumped to.  It’s a curious thing how we find ourselves in these kind of situations.  I think it may just be a function of our culture, but I haven’t worked it out in my mind.  Would it be possible to be truthful in all situations if everyone knew that it was the way to be and didn’t experience this as unkindness?  Would it reduce us to inept children with no social skills? Would it be a better way to live our lives to not lie and not suspect that others are lying to us?  It would be kind of refreshing to not feel like I have to make an excuse that ends up being a lie to get out of something I don’t want to do.  That’s my hardest thing to do.  I’m going to mull over this and read the book again and maybe even some more material on lying.  How about you?  Do you wrestle with this?

Last Week’s Highlights

Thursday I had to have another treatment on my leg veins on my left leg because the first treatment didn’t work as planned.  I’ll find out this Tuesday if it took.

Friday I had a crazy night at the La Veta Inn.  My good friends Oleta, A.D., Victoria, and Leslee have taken on the name of the “Tom Munch Bunch” which was given to them by one of the managers at the Inn, and they surprised me by unveiling shirts that Oleta created that read, “The Tom Munch Bunch Charter Member”.  My good friend, Kay Singleton, was also out with her husband, Ron, and she sat in and did a couple numbers herself.  It was a fun night!

Sunday morning I played for the St. Pius X church picnic which was full of wonderful, caring people, and I really enjoyed playing for them!

So what’s up this week?

Friday night I’ll be back at the La Veta Inn 6-9 for what may be the last performance of this season.  I enjoy the Inn so much and the good people of La Veta, and I am looking forward to playing for them.

Saturday night we perform the Song of Pueblo for a private reunion.  I’m sorry this isn't open to the public since we only had one public performance this year in June.  There will be big news on this front sometime in November, and we will most likely be doing a fundraising performance for the Song of Pueblo on November 22nd at the Old Towne Carriage House in Pueblo.  More on this soon!

So that’s it for this week.  I hope to see you soon!

Best,

Tom

Details this week:

Who:  Tom Munch
What:  playing & singing
Where:  La Veta Inn, 103 W. Ryus Ave, La Veta.  719-742-3700
When:  Friday, September 8, 6-9 pm