Imitation of Truth
Writer Author Mary K. Zenon
Christian Book Excerpt
:
Inspirational
- Fiction No
“I should not imitate the hatred of Cain, the disobedience of Saul, the betrayal of Judas. But I should imitate the faithfulness of Joseph, the purity of Daniel and the wise affection of John. As a Christian, I have accepted the duty to act under the influence of good role models, not evil.”
—Warren E. Berkley
We imitate great men and great women not realizing that they are just ordinary people with extraordinary gifts and talents. No one is perfect or without flaw we sometimes focus on their extraordinary abilities and forget about their human frailties. It is alright to imitate the good characteristics of a person you admire but remember not to imitate the bad.
“Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God………..” (3 John 1:11-12)
We live in a time where there is so much embellishment and pretense that people in our world today have lost sight of truth. That is why people are now telling each other to “kept it real.” (Keeping it real -Staying true to yourself, your faith, your life and constantly seeking the truth.) Most people are frustrated with absurd exaggerations and untrustworthy, untruthful, insidious, perfidious, treacherous, artificial, backhanded, feigned, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, two-faced ways of people they come in contact with each day.
Lying has for centuries caused insane amounts of regret. For example: “In the Middle Ages, fake letters allegedly written by a rich eastern king named Prester John not only recruited crusaders for war; explorers including Marco Polo sought Prester John's wealthy but non-existent kingdom. It was a lie that was not only big, but it kept people busy on the impossible task of trying to prove it for centuries.” Prester Johns’ kingdom allegedly never existed.
Most people would rather follow a lie than to be lead by the truth, why is it hard to accept truth? What has occurred in our life that makes us want to dismiss the truth? Maybe it’s easier to deal with deception, because the truth appears to be too complicated.
The truth can be like a mountain that is to hard to climb it can be a road that we refuse to cross. Most people live on the other side of truth. Whatever the matter is we avoid being truthful, even as a young child I can recall how hard it was for me to tell my mother the truth when I did something I knew would disappoint her; I would choose to tell a lie.
When faced with having to tell the truth we make choices based on our feelings and on the feelings of the people involved in the matter. The truth can stare us in the face and still we will choose to lie, why? It is more convenient to tell a lie than it is to tell the truth. The truth forces us to deal with the facts, it makes us vulnerable it exposes who we really are, it defames our character it ruins relationships it destroys careers the list goes on and on.
We may try to cover the truth with a lie but the truth has a way of asserting itself despite attempts to obscure it. As the pages of this book unfold you will see how I have used everyday situations that we encounter daily to demonstrate how relevant the Bible is to our everyday living.
We have been given by God examples of people’s mistakes and their triumphs these people lived in Bible days; we have an open book of their trails and tribulations, we can look into ancient history and observe how ordinary people made extraordinary changes that still shine bright in the world we live in today.
“Live up to your potential instead of imitating someone else’s.” —Martha Burgess
Living a life of truth is important because it’s empowering you to be who you were created by God to be. Align yourself with truth; make the necessary adjustments in your life. It is as simple as saying that I will choose to live my life honestly before God, I am stripping away my old ways and placing the new and improved me into a destiny of truth, untouched by deceit; make a choice to be remembered as a person who always speaks the truth with true compassion. We have to take a stand and start speaking and living a life filled with truth. No more pretenses! Walk in the true expression of you, a person that does not worry about what others think, I was taught to observe the masses and to do the opposite. Many may prefer to live a life of deceit but why not make a choice to live a truthful life. It is up to you, how do you want to live the rest of your life?
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9)
When I was a teenager I saw the movie “Imitation of Life” it taught me to be myself, I went through a stage as most kids do, wanting to be accepted, watching the movie showed me that I could only be a second rate imitation of anyone else, but I could be the best me there ever was.
“Imitation of Life”
“One cold day, Annie brings Sarah Jane's galoshes to school, where she discovers that her daughter has been trying to conceal her race from her classmates. When Sarah Jane runs from Annie, her distressed mother turns to Lora and asks, “How do you explain to your child that she was born to be hurt…”
Sarah Jane tells Susie that she secretly has been seeing her boyfriend, and that she would rather die than be considered black. Sarah Jane, meanwhile, claims to have accepted a job in a New York library, but Annie finds her singing and dancing in a seedy New York nightclub. Her mother's appearance gets Sarah Jane fired, and she again runs from her, causing Annie to faint.
Back home, Annie tells Lora, who has just returned from Europe, that she will no longer interfere in her daughter's life, adding that she does hope to help her wayward daughter somehow. Steve, now a company vice-president, learns that Sarah Jane is working as a chorus girl in Los Angeles, and Annie, convinced she is dying, flies to California for one last look at her daughter. Sarah Jane is furious, exclaiming, “I'm somebody else, I'm white.” Annie then introduces herself to Sarah Jane's friend as Sarah Jane's former nanny and leaves, but not before Sarah Jane tearfully embraces her.
One day, Annie tells Lora to make certain all her possessions are left to Sarah Jane and then, after reassuring her old friend that she is “going to glory,” dies. Lora breaks down, but sees to it that Annie has the elaborate funeral she had requested. As the long cortege moves slowly along the street, Sarah Jane pushes through the crowds, flings herself on her mother's coffin, and weeps hysterically. Lora and Susie gently lead her into the hearse, where they reassure her that she did not cause her mother's death.”
Sarah Jane clouded by her own ways rejected both her heritage and her mother's love. Sarah Jane is faced with her mothers’ death she is flooded with regret and hurt because she refused to face the truth for so long; her lies alienated her from her mother, a relationship she never took the time to develop. A true example of living outside of the truth, living a lie at the time was far more important to Sarah Jane than living a life of truth.
Think about the people you know that would prefer a lie over the truth, lying can have a tragic end, living a lie may be satisfying for a while, but sooner or later it becomes your worst nightmare.
“Failure to embrace and act upon truth will always result in deception.”—Tom Drout
“Inspirational Humor”
“One day, while a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her thimble fell into the river. When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, “Why are you crying?” The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water, and she needed the thimble to make her living.
The Lord went down into the water and reappeared with a golden thimble. “Is this your thimble?” the Lord asked. The seamstress replied, “No.” The Lord again went down and came up with a wooden thimble.” Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.
Again, the seamstress replied, “No.” The Lord went down again and came up with a silver thimble. “Is this your thimble?” the Lord asked. The seamstress replied, “Yes.”
The Lord was pleased with the woman's honesty and gave her all three thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.
Some time later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the riverbank, and her husband fell into the river. When she cried out, The Lord again appeared and asked her, why are you crying?”
“Oh Lord, my husband has! Fallen into the water!”
The Lord went down into the water and came up with Mel Gibson. “Is this your husband?” the Lord asked. “Yes,” cried the seamstress. The Lord was furious. “You lied! That is an untruth!”
The seamstress replied, Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding.
You see, if I had said 'no' to Mel Gibson, you would have come up with Tom Cruise. Then if I said 'no' to him, you would have come up with my husband. Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord, I'm a poor woman and can not take care of three husbands, so THAT'S why I said yes to Mel Gibson.”
This may be a little inspirational humor, but the truth is that a dishonest person who lies to God or who tries to reason with God about his or her actions is a person that can not be trusted.
“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.” (Ephesians 4:25)
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About the Writer Author
State:
Texas
Country:
United Sates
Email:
MZenon@bafirm.com
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